


Innocence eroded into Nightmare

by JellyCream_Jam



Series: Phantom Nightmares [1]
Category: FNAF, Five Nights at Freddy's, Yume Nikki | Dream Diary
Genre: (may be updated as the story goes), Alienation, Best Friends, Blood, Bullying, Car Accidents, Character Death, Child Abuse, Child Death, Child Experimentation, Child Murder, Childhood Friends, Clowns, Color Blindness, Crossover, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Families of Choice, Family Secrets, Friendship, Gen, Gore, Guilt, Human Experimentation, Lynching, Male-Female Friendship, Miscarriage, Mob Mentality, Multi, Other, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Robots, Traffic Death, Witchcraft, Witches, scapegoating, sword swallowing, traffic accident
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21789667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyCream_Jam/pseuds/JellyCream_Jam
Summary: It was rough, but there were three.A splat and a scoop, the ice cream had gone warm.Then there were two.Against pleas, down came metal jaws for a big bite.And then there was one. The one who may hold the key.(a Yume Nikki/FNAF crossover, because I’m trash. My first actual written story in literal years, and my first work here on AO3, oof.Partially inspired by Tumblr user "Stella's" interpretation of the FNAF 4 Child, under the URL of bitevictim.)
Relationships: Elizabeth Afton & Michael Afton, Elizabeth Afton & The Crying Child, Friends - Relationship, Madotsuki & Bite Victim, Madotsuki & Elizabeth Afton, Madotsuki & FNAF 4 Child, Madotsuki & Mafurako, Madotsuki & Monoe, Madotsuki & Monoko, Madotsuki & Poniko, Madotsuki & Seccom Masada-sensei, Madotsuki's parents, Monoko & Monoe, Poniko/Shitai-san (crush), The Crying Child & Older Brother (Five Nights at Freddy's), siblings - Relationship
Series: Phantom Nightmares [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1570258
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	1. The Victim of His Own Blood

First his best friend, Charlotte, disappeared on his 5th birthday at Fredbear's Family Diner. Like everybody when such things happen, he had hope she would be okay. But as days, weeks, _months_ passed, he knew. He knew she wasn’t coming back, as much as he didn’t want to accept it.

No bodies or traces were found. Everybody says there’s no such thing as a perfect crime, but then, this one is pretty close. He only couldn’t ever imagine how close it was.

Then, on the party of his 6th birthday, suddenly his only 4 friends disappear in unison. Based on what went with his best friend last year, he had a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach, fearing the worst and in a vague hope of changing course of things this time, he searched all over the diner for his friends.

He found them.

And it cost him.

The image of their red crumbled bodies and bits of flesh sticking out from the friendly-looking mascots tombs they were shoved into sure is one that not even a car wash hose directly to his brain would clear from his memory. And that’s only half the truth. This was still very fresh. Whoever did this was still at the scene.

He knows what happened to his friends, and had a pretty good hunch to what happened to his best friend last year.

His father. His own father. _His father happened to them._

His only reaction was run and cling to his mother like his life depended on it, his shock keeping him from saying anything much consistent, other than _"Daddy made Freddy and the others eat his friends."_

Nothing he said made sense, and just about nobody took him seriously—he already had a reputation as a meek, cowardly cry-baby boy, which rendered him an easy target, and the butt of the jokes for other neighborhood kids, including his own eldest brother. Few were exception, and they were now wiped away.

By the time things started to get done and searches started, like last year, no crumpled bodies or traces of his friends (or what was left of them) was found. Like last time, nobody was held accountable.

His father remained a free man.

And he now knew that his youngest son was aware of his sins.

No, he couldn’t just kill his own flesh and blood—his son’s disappearance would be noticed, and being closer to him than the other victims, he certainly would get investigated further this time. Most people already think his son is a spineless coward, all he had to do, was make him an even more of an uncredible source. No one would believe whatever he says by default.

The next few weeks were spent looking after his son, listening to his nightmares, woes, and fears, asking how he’s feeling, even asking for his kid to draw his nightmares for him, and overall, being what he’s supposed to be. A father. But his intentions had nothing to do with that.

All that, it was to get back just enough of his son’s trust, and a way to legit study the boy and what made him so thick (or the opposite.) So he could know how to meticulously break his son, just enough to render him into an unrealiable witness. No more than that.

Eventually, his son trusted him enough to go on one of those "take your kid to work" day car ride with him. Over to the headquarters of his business: Circus Baby’s Pizza World. But no, not Circus Baby’s Pizza World itself.

Underneath it. Deep down.

Circus Baby’s Entertainment & Rental. But honestly, it’s just a longer and cuter name for Afton Robotics.

That’s where the worst began for the boy.

That’s where the true intents built into the man’s creations were allowed to shine uninhibitedly. The boy was now a test subject, a guinea pig for his own father. He began to be used to test the creations' child-abducting functionalities, always hidden behind friendly, shiny toony facades. To the young one’s horror, his nightmares were also literally brought to life by the ingenious hands of his father, based on the drawings he made weeks ago. The _Nightmare Animatronics._ His father never wanted to help him. He just wanted information. And he was fragilized and gullible enough to give it.

Fear did all the rest.

The boy wouldn’t seek for help, in fear that either himself or someone else next to him would be next, like his 5 friends. Besides, who would believe him anyways? Who would believe such truth to be true? _That his father is a mad scientist who creates monsters underground, and uses his own son to test his creations?_

This young life was hell on earth. But at least the boy had his mom and his older sister, Elizabeth. They had no idea. How would they know?

As time went by, the boy’s sleep got quickly further plagued, as he can’t escape his nightmares whether he’s awake or asleep, and his mental health further deteriorated. His mother began to catch on; Something was very wrong with her baby boy. Her husband assures her that he’s fine; he’s probably just having trouble coping with his friends’ absence, and he’s been taking him to "father-son bonding activities" at work as a means to help him get better. But she wasn’t stupid.

Mrs. Afton wasn’t stupid at all.

Once having had enough of her husband’s vague answers and excuses, one day she follows his car. Followed his way into his facility with their son.

The truth was nothing she could ever have imagined. Nothing a mother would ever, _ever_ wish on her child.

She confronts her husband’s plans. She attempts to take her son and run.

But her husband couldn’t let her go. He couldn’t let her reach the exit. She knew too much. Seen too much. And she wouldn’t be as breakable as her son, nor as gullible to fool and silence. He knew she would tell on him, and his work. And he couldn’t have that.

Even if it meant that his own wife had to be next.

And thus one of the boy’s fears concretized.

**His father was a sick man. Very sick.**

Now he had only his sister. And he sure tried to stay on his best behavior possible to not have her taken away too.

Sure, there was his eldest brother too, Michael. But honestly the lad seemed only entertained by taking his teen frustrations on the young boy, and bully him along with his group of rowdy friends. This was very often the cause of fights between Michael and Elizabeth, because while he’d torment and pick on the boy like many other neighborhood kids do, she does her best to protect him, going as far as engaging in fist fights with other kids. Her temper got worse after their mom’s disappearance, picking physical fights with other kids for as much looking or murmuring something harsh to her little brother.

Michael worsened too. He was never home, going out with his pals do dumb teenager stuff, and when he was home to be immediately greeted and reminded by the absence of his mother, then he’d take his anger out on his brother. The bullying also became more relentless, hand in hand.

It was only him and his sister, but to not have him feel just so alone and abandoned, she passed down to him her most cherished treasure.

A Fredbear plush.

Their mother had originally gotten it for her when she was a little younger, and thus when she felt alone, that plush made her feel like there was a bit of their mother there with her (it was especially helpful when Elizabeth just started school, not used to being away from family for such long times of the day, nearly all week.) And now that their mother was gone, it was like whatever bit left of her was only that plush. It didn’t solve any problems, nor cure any wounds. But it sure was comforting.

"He was my best friend when I was little. And now, he will be your best friend too."

Before the franchise was twisted and tainted to him by his father, Fredbear had always been his favorite. And seeing something from the franchise that his father hadn’t corrupted, honestly felt like being able to take the first fresh breath in _ages_.

He will treasure this as much as his sister did, as much as he treasures her, and the memory of their mother.

Because otherwise there’s not much else he can rely on. And that’s where we’re currently at, with young Raiden Afton, and his sister.

There were two.

But he may find a small extra sprinkle of joy, one that comes to him in the form of a small and eccentric, yet charming family that’s moved into the neighborhood recently, into the house right across his. Specifically, that family’s only daughter.

Then there were three.


	2. The Granddaughter of the Witches that didn't Burn

Circumstances challenged her since before she was even born.

Originally conceived as a twin, but born alone. It had a 1 in 3600 chance of occurring, and this time it seems that one family was the 1.

She grew with the notion that “something” was always missing or lost, yet couldn’t for the life of her describe much less name it. Her parents opted to never let her know—they believed the knowledge would do more harm than good, not to mention it was a very painful topic for them as well, rightfully so. Thus she was raised as an only child. A pretty quirky child.

The closest she got to feeling like she found that “something lost,” was when she, as a toddler, met two sisters, one a bit older than her, the other an even younger toddler still not having fully mastered speech.

These three were inseparable since then.

They would thirst for little adventures together. Conquer countless imaginary worlds together… Or just spend some of their free time together drawing whatever their little and intricate minds chose, in crayons. Or watch Saturday morning cartoons till it was snack time.

They even wound up going to the same school, although in different grades due to their different ages. That’s not a big feat though—that was a small town after all.  
That’s where it became clearer to see that something was up with the youngest sister, M████o. No matter how much teaching and instructing and repeating, she just never seemed capable of identifying colors correctly, even with help. The fact she learned just about everything else just fine, shed some suspicion that something could be up with her sight. And boy it sure was. Turned out that the little girl was _Colorblind_. What sort of it was very hard to diagnose.

The older sister, M███e, stopped using colored crayons when drawing with her, using blacks and greys (and the “useless” white crayon) to go easier on the young one’s eyes, and she doesn’t even seem to have noticed the change.

It was by no means the end of the world, many people in the globe are born Colorblind some way or another. It answered why the child had so much trouble learning colors, and now they were one step closer to know how to help accommodate for her special needs.

The other two girls still loved M████o all the same.

Remember when it was said that our twin-orphaned twin was a quirky child?

While that’s not necessarily bad, that has rendered her to, well, not be very popular with other children at school, often making her a target for mockery and bullying. But despite that she was okay, and was happy with the couple few friends she had—they were worth hundreds to her after all.

Besides the two sisters, after starting school, she also met a girl who was a very introverted wallflower who sought solitude, even the way she dressed was as if she was trying to make herself as invisible as possible. They didn’t immediately click due to the difficult engaging with someone who wouldn’t actively engage back, but they got there. Mafurako isn’t a very social kid but likes the friends she’s got, so long she can get her “me” time later.

Prof. Seccom Masada was a talented and rather dreamy music teacher, and the first friend the quirky lass made that was an adult. She quickly got enchanted with his classes and got interested in music quickly, going as far as to have extracurricular classes from him causing her to quickly get way ahead of her classmates. And he was glad to deliver, feeling that once in a long time someone actually appreciated his music. He was a passionate expert at the piano, but could teach that and much more. Besides musician, he had a degree in astronomy as well, but never found work in that area. He also believed in aliens, something he’d sometimes share with his pupil in casual talk. Honestly he probably ended up seeing the girl as his protegee, or even as an adoptive daughter.

Last but not least, P████o was a student in the far older grades, being fresh outta her 16’s, as well as formerly M████o’s babysitter. She was… an interesting gal. She had a very skewed and misanthropic view on familial relationships due to having been disowned by her own family more or less a year ago, thus turning her into a bit of a bitter person. Without support from her family, she ended up having to learn to look after herself way too quick, thus having to find work at the same school she studied, though in another shift. So while she studies during a shift she works at the library during another. Due to this she’s often in a soured and burned out mood, running on coffee. While a friend in the crew and someone the girl thought highly of, she’s not super close. She did however have a crush on the traffic security speaker, but never got to word it.

All these distinct people were considered important in the girl’s life. _For better or worse._

It wasn’t uncommon for her to walk M████o home after classes if M███e had to stay back for some reason—usually after-class work or group projects.  
So when M███e had to stay back to plan a group project with some classmates, nobody thought further about it. She entrusted her friend to walk M████o home, like many other times.

All it took was one single moment of mild distraction. As she crossed the road slightly clouded by her own thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that her younger friend had fallen behind and tried to catch up, despite the traffic light closing for pedestrians at that right moment. Not that she could have guessed.

** _Red and green were exactly the two hardest colors for someone like M████o._ **

Ironically, the traffic security speaker was nearby and had seen what was about to unfold and tried to intervene in order to save M████o, but sadly it only resulted in two demises. The girl soon got notice of her distraction, but it was soon enough for her to witness the consequence of it, while it being also far too late to do anything.

That was a small town, and news like such spread fast. And almost everybody knows almost everybody. So it didn’t go so well for the girl, as the repercussion caused her and her family to be shunned by other citizens. M███e, not only in pain for losing her younger sister in such a brutal way, but also felt like her trust had been betrayed, given she had entrusted who she considered her _best friend out of all people_ with her little baby sister. Due to this, she ended their friendship by distancing herself and eventually vanishing out of the girl’s life.

This collective alienation made living there much rougher not only for the little lass, but her parents as well. As it wasn’t uncommon for either of the couple to receive angry phone calls or even threats directed at themselves or their child over what happened. And bullying took a new scale too. Rather than being a couple mean kids’ scapegoat, it was like the entire world decide to make her its scapegoat now. Sometimes even adults would engage.

Fortunately Prof. Seccom remained by the child’s side, viewing others’ approach to the incident as unreasonably harsh. He would even walk the girl home after classes once her parents grew that (reasonably) paranoid of other citizens’ newfound hatred for them. Mafurako, technically didn’t stop her support, but the rest of her family shared the mob mindset, and thus she was explicitly forbidden from continuing on a friendship with the girl.

P████o… didn’t take it well. At all. She lost exactly the two most relevant people in her dull life. _At once._ The little child she basically watched grow, and the guy she liked and now would never have the chance to confess her feelings to. Bitter to new levels, she would begin to often turn a blind eye to the harassment the girl began to face, not engaging in it herself, but also not lifting a finger to interfere with it.

Sometimes even adults would engage—especially relatives of the two sisters, confirming they could always tell that he girl was such a “wicked witch” with how she had been always so weird, and how much she cursed her friends’ family. She was the scapegoat for every negative things in that town now.

_Sometimes people pretend you’re a bad person so they don’t feel guilty for the things they did to you._

Soon the girl’s parents decided they had enough of this hometown and its unreasonably hateful citizens, put all of their savings and income for one big use, and took their child with them. They moved as far away as they could invest, where “nobody knew their names.” And decided to settle to _start over, start fresh._ The kid sure didn’t come unscathed from this, but she’s managing. She’s even began developing interest in witchcraft despite the pejorative treatment that said she was a wicked witch. If she was already considered a witch, she might as well embrace it and make something good out of it.

They don’t really talk about their life before they moved, mostly in fear the shunning and the past will follow them here if they’re not careful. This has weighted the shoulders of the three family members having to internalize everything, but they just couldn’t trust anyone with their burden but themselves.

As a way to deal not having her friends anymore, the girl has created dream versions of people, especially the two sisters’ and her music teacher’s. She might be a little too invested in her fabricated world, however... She feels as lost as ever now. Even if she doesn’t say it, she takes the fingers pointed at her to heart. Guilt has made its home in her heart. _She knows deep in her soul what she's done._

It’s been like what now? A month? Two? They’re still fairly new and fresh in this new neighborhood. And that’s where we’re currently at, with young Madotsuki Ramos, and her parents. The Ramos family.

But, while she may find that while she’s often feeling like “something” is missing or lost, she doesn’t consider the thought that _she_ might be what is fundamentally missing in someone else’s life. Someone who now lives in the house right across hers.

There will be three.


	3. Unexpected Friendships are the Best Ones

It was a nice, sunny day, with little to no clouds in the sky. Probably no later than late morning.

Madotsuki wasn’t a very outdoors child, and hadn’t really formed any new bonds with anyone since her family moved. Most of her time was spent within the family property.

While someone who liked cloudy and ‘that lazy rainy day’ weather far more, she took advantage of the sunny morning to do things at the family yard. Recently she had started on a very small crop garden on a small space of the yard; It was mostly herbs, used both in witchcraft as well as to make teas, or in miscellaneous crafts such as homemade candles and incenses. The Sun would be a good addition to her plants' health, of course.

It was an uneventful morning, as Madotsuki tended to her small herbal garden, down on her knees close to the fertile soft soil where the plants had been put to grow and branch out. A small shovel, scissors and a little watering can were enough.

Even through her concentrated focus meticulously cutting down bits of a few branches of lavender for the tea her mother would make later that day, she could identify sounds of distressed commotion a bit far away. Putting down the last snippet of Lavender she picked out into a small bowl, the girl got up to look out what was up. Usually she wasn’t a nosy kid, but something just compelled her to check out.

She could see from her yard the neighbor house, a road the only thing between them. She and her family have been living there for like two months now, she already had seen most of those faces in and out, but the affinity with them never went beyond that. They never actually interacted.

The commotion was in front of the neighbor house, at their own yard. A boy as small as herself, a visibly irritated girl, and a larger boy ripping the small boy’s bear doll from his hand and holding it beyond his reach, while being backed up by a group of other larger boys. The commotion sound was mostly the young boy’s desperate crying, followed by the larger boys’ laughter, and the girl’s protests over what was taking place.

She has been in that boy’s place before, being demonized. But she could tell that unlike herself most of those occasions, he had no actual strength to push through it. No matter if you have the mental capacity to push through bullying or not though, it is never okay no matter what.

Watching that from her yard left Madotsuki with a bitter taste at the back of her mouth; She mentally scowled. Literally how coward and sick do you have to be to take away such a tiny boy’s toy from him like that?

The protesting girl seemed like she had enough. The moment she looked like she’d actually engage physically against the larger boy, he swiftly handed the doll to one of his friends and the group ran off laughing like they had done such a great thing, leaving the girl angrily yelling at them, and the boy crying even further.

Madotsuki exhaled. She more or less knows that ‘getting yourself involved into other people’s matters can get you in trouble’ but her consciousness would certainly never let her rest easy if she turned a blind eye to this.

_She wouldn’t do to this kid what essentially P████o did to her._

And so, Madotsuki got out of her family property without giving out any hints she had witnessed the ordeal as she saw the group of boys running across the road with the stolen doll—the one who currently had it was putting it into their backpack for easier carrying.

Like a mere bystander (but purposely,) Madotsuki got into their way as she walked the opposite direction, bumping and brushing by one if not several boys from that group. They didn’t stop, just annoyedly yelled a “Look where you’re going, pipsqueak!!” as they ran off. Madotsuki merely turned around, hands seemingly folded behind her back. Her response short and simple.

“Bite me.”

Whether they actually paid attention to her response or not was unclear. Not that she cared really.

At this point the group was probably by the end of the block, and Madotsuki looked back across the street. She could see the boy crying inconsolably as he sat down on the paving stone at the edge of the sidewalk, hugging his knees. The girl who looked furious before, was now sitting by his side rubbing his shoulder, looking like she was trying to comfort him.

Taking a deep breath, Madotsuki walked across the road over to them, stopping like a feet in front of the two.

“Excuse me?”

Her voice is soft, but the two still look up. The boy’s face was soaked by his tears, with reddened cheeks and puffy eyes. The girl looked distrusting, with a neutral expression although with furrowed brows, like she was expecting another kid she’d have to fight.

Madotsuki just stood there, hands behind her still.

“I usually don’t snoop or eavesdrop on other people’s business-“ She does take a hand from behind her back to slightly awkward rub the back of her neck, but then it was back behind her back. “- but I couldn’t help but see what just happened and… well. I’m pretty sure this is actually yours.”

She moves her hands to her front—

\-- Revealing she had, somehow, _gotten hold of the plush that had been snatched away._

The other girl’s eyes widen and her jaw drops. The boy’s eyes light up and a wide and happy grin slowly crack into his face.

“Fredbear!!” He exclaims happily, his arms eagerly holding out for the plush.

Madotsuki just spares a moment to actually look at the toy before returning it to its rightful owner.

It was a bear. Yellow or golden hues, with a purple tophat and bowtie. Its eyes were dark and somehow felt like they could _stare into your soul._

“How… how did you _even_ get him back??” The incredulous girl finally asks. Madotsuki just shrugs. She figured the word ‘pickpocketing’ would be awkward to add into a conversation—even though she never uses that skill to _actually steal._

Meanwhile with the group of rowdy boys, they’d had stopped by a parking lot of a establishment that had a caricature of the plush bear character on the wall next to the entrance door. They were laughing victoriously, some of them leaning against the side of a parked car to catch their breath.

“Dude your brother’s such a whimpy, he could barely jump three inches off the ground to try to take that stupid doll of his back!”

“That’s what he gets for being so spineless. What should we do next now, though?”

“Uh, I dunno man, _you’re_ his brother. But, maybe we should hide it.”

They all seemed pretty satisfied with the idea.

“Let’s hide it in the diner’s Parts room! We know how terrified he is of that room! It’d be fun seeing him struggle getting there to claim it back!”

“I like that idea lots! Yo, you got the doll in your pack right?” The brother asks, prompting said teen to slip his backpack off his back to hold it in front of him.

“Sure I do man! It’s right.. here…”

He goes silent at the sight of the zipper of his backpack being half open.

“Huh? I didn’t leave it open like this!” He places his backpack on the floor and knees down next to it, starting to rummage through it. The other boys watch, exchanging confused looks.

“Wait. It’s not here!”

“What???” The brother’s brows raise. How? He saw his friend shoving the doll into his backpack! How was it not there? The other boys started to think up what could have happened.

“Could it have fallen off your backpack while we were running?”

“No way man. I had closed my backpack full.”

“How did it get open then?”

That’s when the brother realizes it.

“…That girl.”

“What girl? Your sister?”

“No! that _other_ girl. The pipsqueak we bumped into!”

“Dude no. We ran past her and didn’t stop at all. No way she could’ve lifted the doll off.”

“Who _else_ did we cross paths with on our way, huh?”

The group goes silent. They more or less accept it was Madotsuki who got the plushie, but barely could wrap their minds around how she managed to do so, especially without any of them noticing until only now.

“Drats, man. I gotta give kudos to that girl, ‘cause that was super stealthy.”

And that’s how their teen plan was busted that day.

Back to the other three kids, the young boy still looked obviously like he had cried, but had a relieved smile on his face as he held his doll close to him, as he sat down on the paving stone. Both girls were sat by each of his side.

“I’d have chased them myself, but they probably would’ve known how to keep me from getting Fredbear back. I only wish I could’ve seen the look on his face when he noticed!” The girl chuckles to herself.

“I thought I’d never see Fredbear again! Thank you so, so much!” The little boy was ecstatic.

Madotsuki just smiled softly. Then the other girl spoke again.

“Say. I think I’ve seen you around before. I don’t think I know you though, really.”

“Oh, I live over there.” Madotsuki points towards her house at the other side of the street right across theirs. “We moved in like two months ago.”

“Oh! You’re from that family people have been calling eccentric!” The boy innocently responded, to which the girl softly scolded him.

“Raiden!”

“S- sorry! I didn’t mean it in a bad way!”

Madotsuki just looks at the two. “People think we’re ‘eccentric’?”

“Y- yeah…” The girl says a little awkwardly. “But really not in a bad way! The adults say your family is kind of charming, even. They call your eccentric because… nobody has any idea whatsoever where you came from. You’re all kind of _mysterious_.”

“Ohh.” Madotsuki’s eyes shift a bit. Honestly ‘eccentric’ wasn’t a terrible thing. But she definitely knew about them being clouded in mystery—she just hadn’t thought other citizens would care enough to notice. “Let’s just say we wanted to start fresh.”

Fortunately for her, it seems both kids seemed perfectly satisfied with that.

“Sorry, at first I thought you’d be mean to my little brother too, ‘cause that’s what literally every other kid here does. It’s nice to meet someone for once who isn’t a total jerk!”

“Why are they mean to him?” Madotsuki spares a second to look at the boy. “He seems like a really nice boy.”

“’cause—“

“Because I’m a crybaby.” The boy says a little somber now as he cuts her off, making the two girls go silent for a moment. But Madotsuki soon broke it.

“Look, this is bullying. _You are not the problem._ In order to not feel so miserable, they try to find anyone they perceive as vulnerable to make miserable instead.”

It was dubious if the boy took any of that to heart, but he softly nodded anyways.

“So. Raiden, right? It’s nice to meet you.”

He soon got the strength to smile again. “Yeah! Nice to meet you too!”

The girl leans in and reaches over Raiden to shake Madotsuki’s hand with an assertive grin. “I’m Elizabeth! I’m his sister.”

Madotsuki answered with a small but genuine smile of her own, shaking Elizabeth’s hand back despite Raiden being between them. “It’s nice to meet both of you. My name’s Madotsuki. But you can call me Mado, if you want.”

And then there were three.


	4. Sometimes Happiness is a Cup of Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raiden Afton and his sister get invited for some tea over at his eccentric neighbor's house. He tries to enjoy it despite knowing what's planned for next day.

Ever since then, Madotsuki, Raiden and Elizabeth were like little three musketeers.

Though more specifically, Madotsuki and Elizabeth acted like ‘protectors’ of Raiden against Michael and other kids. How each did it varied; Elizabeth with her temper, wasted no time in tackling bullies with her fists bared, punching, kicking, pulling hair, pushing whoever dared mock her little baby brother.

Madotsuki, while not necessarily having the temper of a saint, usually would rather stay put close to Raiden, acting as a deterrent—though isn’t above going physical if the bullies did as well. She did once _literally bite_ a bully in the hand when they tried to push her out of their way towards Raiden. But more often than not she’d resort to using their ignorance to her advantage, revealing her association with witchcraft and hexing them as a response to their confronting. Rarely it was _real_ hexes, because she knows the huge responsibility it is to launch anything into the universe. But a set up to have people self-sabotage without knowing it.

Often someone having a bad day, a surge of bad luck, or something going wrong for them, were enough to get into their minds that somehow Madotsuki was interfering with the cosmos to screw them up, or sending some bad juju towards them. It made her be a quite intimidating child, despite her small size and harmless appearance. It made a good amount of bullies stop or at least lessen their bullying towards Raiden, or attempt to get him when she wasn’t nearby—though then chances are that Elizabeth was there to gift them a nice black eye.

It was hardly an improvement in Raiden’s life when there’s his ‘secret life’ under his father’s sick clutches, but he will cling to it regardless. He is fine with neither of the girls knowing what happens between him and his father, because he’d rather keep them unaware than either of them being next to disappear for knowing.

Michael also got acquainted with Madotsuki, though for around the exact opposite reasons Raiden and Elizabeth did; The two didn’t get along in the slightest. For Michael, Madotsuki was a no-fun sassypants of a weirdo who has it out to always ruin his fun. For Madotsuki, Michael was just a heartless bastard of a bully whose siblings were too good for him.

When not at Fredbear’s (much to Raiden’s relief since what he witnessed there in his past birthdays and the knowledge that these mascots aren’t as harmless as his father designed them to seem, he now dreaded being there,) he’d be playing with his two friends at the playground or the park. Or sometimes the three kids would have sleepovers over at one another’s.

As small as it was, it gave a little bit of happiness back to Raiden in spite of everything else.

One late morning, it was near tea time at Madotsuki’s house, so with the okay of her mother, she went to the neighbor house to invite her friends over. The girl waited patiently at the door for a couple seconds after politely knocking. She looked to be in a very content mood. Which instantly melted into disregard when Michael answered the door, the teenager sharing the same disregardful mood the moment he saw her.

“What do you want, pest?” He scowls.

“_Friends-only_ business.” She jabs back and wastes no time ducking under Michael’s arm and moving past him into the house. “Raiden? Elizabeth?”

“Mado? Is that you?” Elizabeth answered back, coming from what appeared to be the kitchen. Raiden soon came in tagging after his sister. “What are you doing here?”

Madotsuki’s expression instantly returned to a positive one upon the sight of her two friends. “Tea time’s about to start at my house. I’m here to invite you two over!”

“Really? We can go. Can’t we, sis?” Raiden inquired, gently tugging on his sister’s shirt. Elizabeth looks aboard with the idea but hesitates a little. “That sounds great but, we gotta ask our dad first.” Raiden seemed to have deflated at that.

“Yeah sure, go have flavored water with the _weirdo family_ why don’t you too.” Michael snarked as he remained next to the door, arms crossed. Elizabeth had gone off somewhere else in the house, likely to ask their father for permission. Raiden just meekly stayed where he was, Fredbear plush in his arms.  
The glare Madotsuki gave the teenager would have made his head explode if that was a possible feat. “Much better being weirdo than being heartless.” She snarks back, which makes Michael’s face get red in pure irritation, especially when he found himself without a good enough comeback. With nothing but a huff to give, he opened the door and left, mostly likely to meet with his teenager friends do dumb teenager stuff.

At around that time, Elizabeth returned, grinning. “Dad said yes! But told me to take one of the house keys because he’ll mostly likely be at work when we come back.” She wriggled said keys in her hand, before tucking them into a pocket of her shirt. Raiden looked glad. “Groovy.” Madotsuki replied, which prompted the other girl to cringe. “Don’t ever say that again..” Raiden chuckled while Madotsuki’s little smirk hinted that wouldn’t be the end.

Soon the three friends were outside. “I’m kind of surprised your dad was around for you to even ask.” Madotsuki couldn’t help but to comment, Elizabeth frowning lightly in response. “I know. He’s never home anymore.” Raiden just stood quiet.

On the very few times Madotsuki ever crossed paths with William Afton, nothing went particularly unfriendly at all, but every time the girl had a feeling there was something… she couldn’t put a finger on exactly… something _off or amiss_ with him. She’s seen nothing to give off a reason for that, but he still made her uncomfortable for some reason. Gut feeling, third eye, witch instincts, whatever you call or see it as. And thus, she didn’t have complaints for rarely seeing the man.

A street-crossing later and they were at Madotsuki’s home. “Tea might be on the final steps but I’m sure table’s ready.” She opens the front door and moves aside for the two kids to enter, then walked in herself and closed the door behind her.

“Mom, we’re back!” Madotsuki called over.

A female voice answered back. “_Kon’nichiwa_, children! Come into the kitchen!”

Madotsuki went ahead and led her two friends through the living and dining rooms, and into the kitchen which was adorned with a small round table at the center which usually had three chairs, but now a forth one had been brought to the occasion. A tall woman was shuffling things on the counter, her back initially turned to the kids. Her long puce brown hair just like her daughter’s was up in a loose bun, a long white dress with pink accents covered her body with long sleeves.

“Hello, Miss Ramos.” Both Afton kids said in unison, politely.

The lady chuckled as she turned around, a cloth being rubbed over her hands. Her beautiful carmine brown eyes were lightly wrinkled by her cheeks due to her smile- usually she wore soft reds, peaches or pinks for lipstick but at that moment it seemed like they were plain, but that didn’t make the woman look any less pretty with the Asian traces one could notice on her traits.

“_Ho ho,_ come on children. You know by now, Mizuki is just fine!” She waves a hand dismissively, with a very friendly and welcoming smile.

Raiden quickly noticed that only 4 cups were on the round table. “Mister Ramos won’t be joining us?”

“Afraid not, _darin_.” Mizuki’s smile softened. “Lope has left to work not too long ago.”

“It’s okay though!” Madotsuki chirps in as she walks in, ushering her friends to do the same. “Dad’s always preferred coffee over tea anyways.” _<strike>Disgusting.</strike>_

Mizuki sets down a steaming kettle with hot water at the center of the table, along with a few small bowls filled with things like herbs, leaves, grains, seeds and powders. Sugar and honey were options for sweetening, along a few other ingredients one could add to their tea if they wanted. “Sit. Sit, kids!” The mother invited. “Don’t touch the kettle, it’s boiling hot.”

Madotsuki sat across from her mother, Raiden sat by the girl’s right and across from Elizabeth, setting his Fredbear plush down on the table right next to him.  
“_Oke,_ let’s get down to it while the water’s still hot. How do you like your teas?” Mizuki offered.

“You know me, Mom!” Madotsuki nearly raised her arms. “Lavender all the way for me!”

“Hmm, I think I’ll go with ginger!” Elizabeth mused.

Raiden took a little longer to decide. “Maybe cinnamon is fine?”

“Of course, children.” Mizuki tended to the two guests’ teas while Madotsuki tended to her own, taking and crunching some pieces of ginger into Elizabeth’s cup from the little bowels, then doing the same to Raiden’s with pieces of cinnamon. Then with the kettle, poured hot water into the cups, also into Madotsuki’s, which had snippets of lavender.

“Sugar, honey, or neither?” Mizuki offered next.

“Sugar is fine!” Elizabeth replied.

“I think I’ll go with honey.” Raiden added.

“I choose honey too.” Madotsuki states.

The woman hums, dumping two little spoons of sugar into Elizabeth’s cup, then three of honey into Raiden’s. Afterwards she passed the honey for Madotsuki, who put three spoons of it into her cup. “Now stir and mix well with your teaspoons, children, so that the water gets the flavor. Then let it sit for a bit because it’s too hot to drink yet.” Mizuki instructed while setting her own tea, making hers peppermint with a little touch with chamomile, with two spoons of sugar.

The children all pick the teaspoons that were next to their cups and did as instructed, then let it sit.

“Elizabeth, what’s up?” Madotsuki couldn’t help but ask her friend, resting one elbow on the table and the back of her hand under her chin, looking at the other.

“Huh?” Elizabeth blinked, looking over, expression kind of confused. Madotsuki had been quite good at picking up facial cues.

“You look… kind of excited. _Eager_.” She clarifies.

“Oh--! Yeah, I was gonna say, actually!” Elizabeth grinned, her excitement now shining further through her features. “When I asked Dad for us to come over, he told me for us to be ready for _tomorrow_! He said he had a _surprise!_”

“Tomorrow? Does it have anything to do with the _grand opening_ I’ve been hearing about for the past week?”

“Probably, Mado! I can’t wait to see what’s the surprise!”

Mizuki watched the kids talk, occasionally looking down at her tea to see if it was cool enough. Raiden… seemed to _grimace_ at the topic, exactly opposite to his sister’s excitement;

His torturing role in his father’s work ‘privileged’ him with knowing projects and plans before everybody else. And he knew about the grand opening and the surprise, since he was used to test it beforehand. The thought of his sister, his friend or any of her family getting too close to these twisted things terrified him so much he could feel a tight knot form in his stomach.

And he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t warn anyone. No, he _had to_ at least alert them to be careful. Or else they could--

“..Raiden? Bro? _Raiden!_”

The small boy jolts his head back up with a startled expression, seeing all three ladies looking over at him with different kinds of confusion and worry.

“Raiden, _darin_. Is something wrong?” Mizuki had a gentle but concerned look. Raiden quickly tried to recompose himself.

“No no, Miss R—I mean Mizuki! I’m fine! It’s just… uh…” His eyes drift off to the side. “… Fredbear’s saying he wants tea too.”

Mizuki blinks, but instead of dismissing what she took as the boy’s imagination acting up, she decides to roll with it. She mocks a slightly dramatic reaction.

“_Ma. Ma!_ Oh my! How rude of me to not offer the nice little bear tea like everyone else too!” She even lightly touches the sides of her cheeks with her fingertips. “I’m so, so sorry, Fredbear_-san_. I’ll get you a cup!”

The woman gets off her seat and goes to the counter for a fifth cup, a little smaller than the ones taken for the four of them. Meanwhile Madotsuki and Elizabeth exchange low, muffled giggles at each other as they watched the ordeal. They try to keep it mostly between themselves because they didn't want Raiden to feel like or think they were laughing at him. This was all just so hopelessly cute.

Mizuki returns with the smaller cup and gently sets it down on the table in front of the golden plush. “How does Fredbear like his tea, _darin_?”

Raiden looked over to his Fredbear plush, who obvious didn’t do anything, but the boy smiled softly anyways. “He says he wants lavender. But with extra honey, please!”

“_Heeey_ look at that. Fredbear has good taste!” Madotsuki chuckles.

Mizuki crumbles some bits of lavender into Fredbear’s cup, then fills it with hot water. Since he wants extra honey, he earns himself three and a half spoons of it, to which she stirs with the tea spoon. “There we go. Fredbear better wait a little to sip or else he might burn his tongue!”

“Fredbear says thank you!” Raiden smiles big.

“_Oke_ kids. Our teas—aside from Fredbear’s, sorry!—should be warm enough for us to drink without burning ourselves.”

“Nice!” Madotsuki picks up her cup, softly blowing over the surface just in case before taking a sip. Elizabeth can be heard humming in delight at the taste of hers. Raiden’s cheeks become a little rosy at the warmth of his as he’s sipping. Finally, Mizuki sips her own, letting out a refreshed exhale. “Perfect.”

“It always feels nicer when you use herbs you picked up yourself for some reason.” Madotsuki lets out a hum of her own, her mother nodding humbly as she took another sip.

“… Mizuki?” Elizabeth calls, kind of suddenly.

“Yes, _darin_?” The woman lowers her cup to the table and looks over, seeing the other looking off at something out the kitchen doorway.

“What’s that… over there?” The girl couldn’t help but point towards some blades together leaning against the wall of the hallway outside just before the stairs that took upstairs. Both Mizuki and Madotsuki seemed completely unfazed.

“Oh. Those are my swords, darin.”

Both guests blink. “Your… _what_?”

Madotsuki just spares a look out the kitchen door and back. “Were you practicing sword-swallowing before we came, Mom?” Elizabeth and Raiden’s eyes widened.

“Practicing **what??**”

“Oh, baby girl. You know I have to practice what I got from the circus every now and then otherwise I’ll lose touch.” Mizuki had an airy laugh written on her face. The guests’ jaws dropped.

“From the _**WHAT???**_”

Elizabeth nearly jumps off her seat, both her hands plopped onto the table as she stood up. You could swear there were stars in her eyes.

“Mizuki, you have _been in the circus!??_”

Both and daughter unfazed look over to their guests who certainly are more than fazed. They both laugh a little.

“Yes, _darin_. When I was younger. I was born into the circus, but a couple years later I was sent with a fellow retiring circus artist to live in a dojo. I grew up there.”

“Can you swallow a sword right now??” Elizabeth was ecstatic.

“What?”

“Can I see you swallow a sword, Mizuki?? Please??? That sounds so cool!”

“well, I…” The woman looks over to her child, who snorts gently.

“I know Elizabeth, Mom. She won’t stop talking about it until you do it, heh.”

“But… isn’t it dangerous?” Raiden inquired.

Mizuki relented, picking up a sword. “Of course it is. Hence why I tell you to _never_ try it at home, much less without an adult supervision. At all. I’ve been taught and practiced it for years and years, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. _Oke_?”

“The fact you can accidentally bite your tongue or inside of your mouth while chewing food is proof that you can slip up even after years of experience.” Madotsuki adds, metaphorically.

“I mean it, _darins_. Do _not **ever**_ try this. If you still remain interested, I can teach you. But only when you’re older. Until then, otherwise, no dice. You understand?” Mizuki’s tone is now dead serious, as is her expression. It is clear this is non-negotiable. Both guests nod.

“Mom says she’ll teach me in a couple years, too.”

“_Oke,_ then. Here it goes, children. Please be silent, I need to focus.”

Mzuki stood up as straight as her body could then craned her head up, looking towards the ceiling. Carefully she brings the sword up above her head, blade end down. All three kids are watching with an intense gaze, Raiden and Elizabeth barely believing this is for real. Slowly and carefully, the woman slides the sword down her mouth and throat, bit by bit, moving nothing but her arms that held the item. She swallows the blade all the way to the handle, the only thing to remain visible and out of her body. Once she feels the sword is properly placed, she gingerly releases her hands off the handle and held them open, earning an impressed “Ooooh!” from her small audience.

After a moment with the entire blade inside her, Mizuki begins to bull off the sword, lifting it back up also bit by bit with both of her hands. Once the end of the blade is out of her mouth, she shifts the sword in her hand and makes a bowing gesture while holding it. “Ta-da!”

All kids clap excitedly.

“That was so awesome, Mizuki!!” Elizabeth was nearly vibrating from sheer enthusiasm. Raiden felt compelled to clap for a moment longer. Madotsuki makes plenty of encoring noises.

“Thank you, thank you, children. The downside is that swords don’t taste as good as tea.” Everybody laughs a tad, as the lady puts the sword away and returns to the table, to her tea. Elizabeth sat back down on her seat, but she could barely stop talking about it.

“Do you think I could make a good sword-swallower someday, Mizuki?”

“If you get someone to teach you, and you train long and relentless, with discipline and dedication, of course _darin_. But you’ll have to stand the bad taste of swords too.” To prove her point, the woman takes a long, big sip from her tea. Elizabeth giggles.

“I… I’m not sure if I’d wanna swallow swords. It looks a little scary to do.” Raiden admits meekly.

“That’s _oke, darin_. If you don’t want to swallow swords, you don’t have to. That won’t make you any less of a cool guy.” Raiden blushed lightly through a smile.

“You could go work with Fredbear and Spring Bonnie! I’m sure a sword-swallowing lady would be an awesome attraction!”

“_Ho ho,_ Elizabeth! Tempting, but sadly I already have work and it takes more of my time than I’d have liked. In fact, I—“ Mizuki looks over to a small clock that stands on top of the fridge. “I’ll be leaving for work in 30 minutes now.” That earns a disappointed wave of “Awww…” from the three kids.

“But, that doesn’t mean we can’t finish our nice good tea time, right?” Yeah, that seemed to improve the children’s flutter right back up just enough.

The next while was well-spent. Laughing, mundane chatting, talking about Fredbear’s, the rumored grand opening next day, Elizabeth still couldn’t keep herself from asking Mizuki about a few more things about her circus life. All over some good warm tea—even Fredbear, though Raiden had to drink Fredbear’s cup on his behalf, of course.

Even though the Ramos household is said to be eccentric, Raiden felt so much more _normal_ here than at his own home. So many _empty chairs_ back there now. Also he rarely sees Elizabeth in such a great, happy mood nowadays as she is now anymore, since she’s often falling into her temper and shortened fuse. He can’t lie… while he greatly misses his mother, he wished Madotsuki’s parents were his and Elizabeth’s too, not William.

Their eccentricism was nothing compared to the _love_ that flowed freely in this house and every corner of it. _And it shows._

So he’ll take and enjoy as much of it as he can.

Once tea time was over, Mizuki had to excuse herself, since like she said, she had to get ready for work. And suggested the three kids go play in the playground while the day is clear out. To which they agree.

“Thank you so much for having us over for tea, Mizuki! It was really fun!!” Elizabeth waves back towards the open front door, the three children already about to leave the front yard.

“My pleasure, _darins!_ Come over again sometime!” Mizuki is already undoing the bun of her hair as she watches the three go, before closing the door and likely get herself changed.

Madotsuki, Raiden and Elizabeth often have fun together in the playground, so they were well acquainted with that routine.

Even though he did his best to enjoy it all, Raiden also has been struggling to mentally prepare himself for tomorrow, knowing that today and now is just a _calm before the storm,_ despite his wishes that today would go on for longer. He has to find a way to warn them even though he can’t say anything. Even though he can’t snitch on William, knowing what are the consequences if he does.

** _Tomorrow is another day._ **


	5. In the Scoop of an Icecream pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It sounds like something you would want at your birthday party to ensure that you get a heaping portion of every good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be a whole chapter, but was getting pretty long (compared to the others, at least) so I found better to split it in at least two, so it doesn't get too long and too tiring for you people to have to read in one go.

Raiden woke up in a cold sweat— which was no news to him, he rarely got peaceful sleep nowadays. Opening his eyes and seeing the very familiar ceiling of his room above him usually granted him a valid but short-lived relief. But today it didn’t. Instead it only gave him another slightly differently-sourced dread.

He knew what day it was today. And he was _terrified_ of it.

He was already familiar with Circus Baby’s Pizza World, the establishment above the hellish hide his father took him. It had never, though, been open to the public before.

Until today.

Today is the grand-opening. It has been on and off in the topics of the neighborhood, given it was under William Afton’s management, and he’s known for helping run Fredbear’s Family Diner, which is very popular. So, naturally, some hype has been around. Even though what exactly this new establishment was going to offer was still a surprise to most. Except Raiden. He knew.

And he hated it. Dreaded it. But above everything else, he feared it.

He barely feared it for himself, however. He knew in his bones how this worked. No, he feared this on behalf of those who were too unaware of the dangers within to be afraid.

He feared especially for his sister, his new friend, and even for Michael.

The young boy wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his pajama before slowly sitting up, Fredbear faithfully by his side sitting on a spare pillow.  
As terrified as he was, he knew he had to be around, be vigilant. He’s the only one who can potentially prevent his beloveds from impending doom.

“You’re still in bed???”

Elizabeth’s loud voice nearly jolted him off his place, giving him quite the wake-up call.

She appears by his doorway in her pajamas, one half of her ginger hair brushed while the other half still presented some bedhair, one foot nicely put into a black mary jane shoe while the other still had her indoors slipper. Foam surrounded her mouth as she had her toothbrush in one hand, while the other held her hairbrush which actually was midst brushing her bedhair side. She looked like the personification of ‘excitement-induced chaos.’ Clearly she was _vibing_ so much she couldn’t contain herself.

“Come on, Raiden! You know what day today is! Get ready!”

She eagerly urges the boy, talking through a gritted toothy grin as she toothbrushed. Through her already absurd multitasking, she unshoed her slipper and kicked it down the hall to get it over to her bedroom doorway, and she followed soon after it, now one foot bare and the other nicely done. Even though she was out of Raiden’s view, her voice was still sound.

“If you don’t get ready in two minutes, I’ll go invite Mado without you!”

And with that she was off, certainly to finish after herself—which by how rapid she was trying to go at it, would probably be in moments. Raiden softly groaned to himself while getting his feet to hang off the edge of the bed. As unexcited as he was over this, he knew if he wanted to be near to make sure nobody got hurt, he’d have to get himself ready whether he’s looking forward to this or not.

“We gotta do our best to keep them safe, Fredbear…”

There wasn’t a lot Raiden had to do; just a clean change of clothes and a pair of sneakers, and a quick brushing of hair and he looked just dandy to go. When he left his room, it was in time to meet with Elizabeth again. This time she looked all properly dressed: Both of her feet into a pair of black mary janes, a blue skirt, and a nice magenta button shirt. She even had a cute little red bow hairpin on her ginger hair.

“Took you long enough!” She said grinning, ruffling his hair a little as she walked past him to go have breakfast. Raiden let out a soft breath, following after his sister. Fredbear, of course, in his arms.

Michael, being the oldest, had the chore of serving breakfast. Sometimes William did, but more often than not he was too busy.

Breakfast was possibly the only time the three siblings could spend together without conflict, mostly because at this moment, for Michael eating his breakfast was more interesting than picking on his brother or arguing with his sister.

“Huh, you two’re all dressed early today. Excited I bet.” Michael nonchalantly commented, picking on the steak in his plate with a fork.

“Well, you look quite ready too.” Elizabeth replied.

“A- are you eager to go?” Raiden asked tenderly, to which the brother first responded with a ‘tch’.

“Not much excited, little man. I’m mostly going just to check out the arcades.”

Yeah. That sounds like Michael, alright. He and his friends often only seemed entertained by the games. At least that probably means Raiden wouldn’t have to worry about him.

Madotsuki, on the other hand… Yeah, he’s gonna have to keep a close eye on her and Elizabeth.

“We’re gonna go invite Mado to go with us first.” Elizabeth added before biting into a forkful.

“Of course you’re gonna invite the pipsqueak.” Michael couldn’t say he was surprised. At all.

“Hey. She kindly invited us over to her house for tea yesterday. It’s only fair!” The girl retorted softly. Michael honestly wasn’t even feeling invested in this conversation.  
“Yeah, yeah.”

Elizabeth eagerly finished her breakfast in probably less than five minutes, and Raiden found himself having to speed through his to keep up with her. So by the time both younger siblings were finished, Michael was still halfway through his meal, give or take. He wasn’t really trying to keep up with the other two. He’ll just catch up with them later. Then again he’ll likely just meet with his teen friends at the arcades when he gets there.

“Mado! Mado! Open up, Mado!” Elizabeth knocked frantically on her neighbor’s door. It almost sounded urgent. Raiden was standing next to her, a little unsure how to react or address his sister’s excitement.

Soon their third friend opened up, she already looked dressed for a day save for the fact she was barefoot. “..Elizabeth? Raiden? What’s up?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s up?’ You know what’s up today!” Elizabeth affirmed.

Madotsuki just stared at her two friends for a good second. You could almost hear the dial-up noises in her mind.

“… oh. Right. The grand-opening.” She finally seemed to recall.

“You _seriously_ forgot??”

“Nah, not really. It just— wasn’t immediately on my mind.”

“Well, either way come on, get ready! We want you to go with us!” Elizabeth basically bounced in place, giddy to all levels.

Raiden honestly would rather that Madotsuki didn’t come, so that she’d remain in the safe— but now there’s no way he can tell her to stay home or to not come along without sounding mean, which he just didn’t have the heart to do.

Before the brunette could give an answer, an adult male voice answered from a few feet behind her into the house.

“_Que pasa?_ Is someone at the door?” Soon a man over 6 feet tall stood behind Madotsuki at the doorway, wearing a plain white T-shirt and navy blue pants. While his dark brown hair was short and kept simple, he shared the exact same eyes as Madotsuki, even that distinct dark ring they both had in their irises around their pupils. Which was likely a genetic trait.

He’d have looked like a pretty intimidating man for his height and decent build, hadn’t it been how friendly his eyes looked in his Latine traces, in spite of it all. And it was a true reflection of him. He had always been a very kind and gentle man despite his size. No wonder his wife fell in love with him, and no wonder Madotsuki was such a nice friend to have.

Madotsuki just craned her head up, certainly getting an upsidedown view of him in her sight. “Oh, hey Dad!”

“Oh. Hello, Mr. Ramos.” Both Afton kids greeted politely, to which the man responded to with a “Pfft,” and a dismissive loose wave of his hand. He and Mizuki matched a lot.

“Ha ha ha! Please kids, you should know the drill by now. Just Lope is perfectly _bueno!_” He had a large but laidback smile. “Anyway, what’s the matter?”

“We came to invite Mado to come with us. To the grand-opening of our Dad’s place!” Elizabeth clarified. Lope softly scratched his chin with a finger.

“Ah, right. I think I heard about that here and there through last week.” His eyes shifted down. “Uh. Are there going to be games and arcades? You know, like those at that Fredbear’s?”

“Very likely. Definitely!” Elizabeth confirmed.

“Well, in that case, baby girl.” Lope took out his wallet from his pocket, looking through it. “Why don’t you take some bucks and pennies to play on the games?” He offered his child, separating some change.

Madotsuki looked visibly uncomfortable. A hand hovered close to her mouth, and the other was generally close to her body, giving her a more meek posture.

“Um… Are you sure that’s…?” She trails off, as if the topic was considerably embarrassing for her to touch on in front of other people. Sure, the family was by no means poor, but they definitely used to do better financially. They didn’t afford badly per se, but they had to save and count their income thoroughly.

“.._bueno?_ Fine? Of course it is!” Lope assured his daughter, kneeling down to her stature as he took out some paper money as well as coins to put them into a roll into Madotsuki’s hands. “You know how helpful and important it is to save money, but there is no hurt in spending a small amount for fun once in a while. It’s all about _moderate_ spending.”

Madotsuki took the money, even if seemingly a little hesitant. “Well, if…. You say so, Dad.. I’ll go dress my shoes.” She walked back into the house, leaving her father with the two Afton kids.

“So… Mizuki told me last night she had to swallow some swords for you yesterday.” He chuckled as he stood back up, crossing his arms. Elizabeth grinned at the reminder, while Raiden just shrugged but smiled a bit.

“Yeah, it was awesome!” Elizabeth affirmed her enthrallment for yesterday.

“Do you swallow swords too, Lope?” Raiden asked tenderly, to which the man laughed.

“Ha ha, no I don’t, champ. I never had a circus life, I just know some mechanical engineering.” He sure more than just ‘knew some,’ he actually had a _degree_ in mechanical engineering.

“Speaking of Mizuki, where is she?” Raiden inquired, having become aware of the wife’s absence.

“Oh, she’s in the shower, getting ready to go work.” Lope shrugged his shoulders. “_De hecho,_ I was just about to get changed myself when I heard you at the door.”

Soon, Madotsuki was back, this time with her bright red running shoes. The minor embarrassment from earlier seemingly gone from her face by now. “Okay, I’m ready.”  
Lope bent down to rest his hands on his kid’s shoulders and plant a small kiss on her forehead. “You go have fun, okay, baby girl?”

She smiled. “Okay, Dad. I’ll see you later.” Then she was out to join her two friends. Lope didn’t stick much after. He had to get ready to work, after all.

Elizabeth was pretty much a walking popping firecracker of sheer delight as the three went down their way. So for Madotsuki, it was a bit hard to miss that Raiden wasn’t sharing much of the same emotion.

“You don’t seem too excited for this. Worried this new place will replace Fredbear’s or something?”

Raiden tightened his lips a bit, thinking carefully of his works— as he obviously can’t slip up and speak too much.

He had told her he liked Fredbear. By that, he meant the character, and his plush. Not really the animatronic or the place. Yes, he used to like it all, but it was before he found out what his father did behind smiling mascots and behind colorful stage curtains. But of course he couldn’t tell her why he wasn’t excited.

But before he could answer, Elizabeth beat him to it.

“Aw, don’t worry so much, Raiden! It’s not gonna replace Fredbear’s. When Dad told me yesterday, he said it was supposed to be a…” She pauses, trying to remember the man’s words. “A _sister location!_ It’s supposed to run along with Fredbear’s, not take over it!”

“Well, that doesn’t clue us much about this _surprise_ your dad spoke of to you.” Madotsuki shrugs.  
“Yeah I know. That’s why I can barely wait to get there!” Elizabeth hopped.

“But you actually don’t look super enthusiastic either, Mado.” Raiden pointed out. “Do you… do you _not_ wanna go?”

“Ah, well—“ The brunette smiled rather sheepishly, a hand brushing some of her soft locks behind her ear. Elizabeth, despite her exhilaration, seemed to have picked on the other’s fidgeting through her silence. “Mado, um. I know I’m really excited and everything, but, you don’t have to force yourself to go if you’re not feeling it.”

“W- what— no!” The ‘eccentric’ of the three stutters. “No, that’s not a problem at all!”

“Then what’s it, Mado?” Elizabeth tilted her head.

“You’re our friend, Mado. You can tell us if something’s bothering you.” Raiden never got much experience in being or offering moral support, but he could at least try.

“No, nothing’s particularly wrong.” Madotsuki begins to explain. “I actually _am_ up to check out the place. It’s just— since it’s the grand-opening, I imagine it’s gonna be absolutely _loaded_ with people. And I’m just not a huge fan of big, loud, jarring crowds, much less of being pushed around and squished in one.”

“… oh.” Is all Raiden could say. Madotsuki always seemed pretty aware of herself and bold, he didn’t imagine she could have _these_ sorts of sensitivities. That sounded much more like something _he_ would have, and probably would get him made fun of.

“That so?” Elizabeth chirps slightly. “That’s okay! If you ever start feeling overwhelmed by the possible crowd you can tell us, we’ll just take you to a quieter or less full area!” She attempts to assure. “You don’t need to let that stop you.”

Madotsuki is quiet for a moment, before letting out a breath through a smile. She evens her pace a little as she places herself between the two siblings and wraps her arms around the shoulders of both of them.

“Hah. What would I do without you two? Thank you both, I feel much better towards this!”

“Hey. That’s what friends are for! Right, Raiden?”

“Yeah!” God, he _almost_ felt bad for having had wished she didn’t go.

“IT’S HERE!!” Elizabeth practically yelled in pure elation, both of the other two kids basically jumping. “It’s here!” She repeated more coherently, pointing towards the establishment— specifically its sign at the facade.

_ **CIRCUS BABY’S PIZZA WORLD** _  
_ **GRAND-OPENING DAY!** _

“Oh my stars!! It’s circus-themed!” That only further seemed to excite Elizabeth.

Madotsuki blinks. “Lords, it _is_ circus-themed. Mom would go absolutely nuts over this if she saw it.” She looks to the sign again. “Circus… Baby? Who is Circus Baby?” She asked the other two.

Elizabeth managed to calm down enough to consider her friend’s words. “I have no idea, Mado. I never heard of a ‘Circus Baby’ and Dad didn’t say anything about them either. It must be an entirely new character.”

“Oh.”

Raiden didn’t say anything— he was already very familiar with possibly all the characters that William decided to shove in here. But, of course, he couldn’t express that without facing harsh consequences.

“Com’on, com’on, let’s go!” Elizabeth grabbed onto each of the other two kids’ hands, basically marching eagerly while pulling the two by one step behind. Raiden seemed kind of nervous, holding Fredbear in his other arm. Madotsuki just chuckled.

“Easy there, Elizabeth. The place won’t create legs and run off.” She joked.

_That would be such a wishful thinking in all honesty no matter how ridiculous it’d be,_ Raiden thought to himself.

Once in, they were immediately greeted by the Main Entrance area, which while nice could go as not very exciting, as it was composed mostly of a counter for two clerks and the cash register, a couple vending machines, and a few chairs spaced out. The floors and walls looked far more interesting. The black and white checkered floortiles were identical to Fredbear’s Family Diner, but the walls were unique; Red and white vertical stripes peppered by golden five-point stars go all the way from the checkered floor to meet a plain red ceiling. The wallpaper is very reminiscent of being inside a typical circus tent.

“It has Fredbear’s floor.” Madotsuki commented as she looked down, softly tapping the tip of her foot against the surface. Elizabeth just shrugged. “Well, like I said, it’s a sister location to Fredbear’s, so a similarity or two should be expected, I guess.”

While two clerks were attending people at the counter, the trio of kids were straight up intercepted by the man behind the establishment; Since two of them were _his children,_ they were pretty much VIP visitors.

“Welcome to Circus Baby’s Pizza World. I knew you’d be here soon.”

“Dad!” Elizabeth greeted back with a wide grin. Raiden didn’t say anything.

“Mr. Afton.” Madotsuki greeted politely, even though on the inside she felt like he wasn’t the person she’d want to meet in a dark alleyway. She always felt that way about him.

The man had a fancy business attire, though its _purple_ hue was an uncommon choice for these kinds of outfits. “You’ll be entering the lobby. There, you can view a map of the place and access any part. However I must warn you;” His tone is a little more serious. “Do **not** get too close to the mascots.”

“But- But Dad!” Elizabeth protested. “I wanna meet them-!”

He got down on one knee, lowering himself closer to the kids’ statures. “Now now. We have rules for a reason. Can’t have our performers distracted in the middle of a show, can we?”

“But Dad, I—“ Elizabeth began protesting again, but her father cut her off sternly. “Elizabeth.”

The two exchange looks in silence for a moment, until the redhead crossed her arms and had to put conscious effort into not scowling. “Fine, fine.”

“That’s my girl.” The man softly pats Elizabeth on the head before standing back up. “So my instructions were simple and crystal clear, right?” He looks down at the three for a confirmation, though his gaze rested more on Raiden, who shuddered, but he nodded. Elizabeth nodded too, through a slightly narrowed expression. Madotsuki nods with a shrug of her shoulders. “Sounds okay to me.”

“Great, great.” The adult smiled. “With that out of the way, please continue on ahead and have all the fun you _ever_ dreamed of, here in Circus Baby’s Pizza World!” He gestured towards the next doorway, which according to him took them to the Lobby area.

Elizabeth let her excitement shine out again, dragging the other two in by their hands once more. “Com’on, com’on! Let’s not miss anything!”

William let them go, but he knew he has to keep an eye on them— Raiden didn’t worry him in the slightest; He knows the boy will do anything to avoid unpleasing him and having consequences to face. Madotsuki was the only of the three he didn’t know enough to deduce how she ticks, but that didn’t unease him— she was just like any other kid that visits Fredbear’s, nothing he hasn’t seen before, he believed. Elizabeth was a whole other story. He knows his daughter for boldly getting her way, even if it means breaking rules. She was always stubborn. He knows she will be up to _no good_ if he doesn’t keep her in line.

The Lobby was much like Fredbear’s dining area, but a little smaller and matching the circus theme while also being slightly reminiscent of a waiting room. At the center stood a panel with a map of the place’s layout imprinted, much akin to those seen in shopping centers or malls. A Prize Corner could be seen on the opposite side of the room, it and the lobby having split space.

“It’s… cozy. Pretty _groovy._” Madotsuki commented quietly as she looked around, mentally grinning at the fact she knew Elizabeth was cringing at her vocabulary.

“Let’s take a look at the map!” Elizabeth approached the panel to see where they should go first. The other two followed.

A _‘YOU ARE HERE’_ sign stood over the lobby area in the map, and identified the other spaces:

The Prize Corner of course was right ahead. To the left was an area called _Ballora Gallery,_ which also connected to an arcade room. To the right stood a so-called _Funtime Auditorium,_ which connected to another arcade room as well as the restrooms.

And past the Prize Corner was a place labeled _Circus Gallery._

Of course the establishment has areas omitted from the map, such as the kitchen or supply closet, but those are essentially staff-only rooms, therefore not necessary to the public map.

“Looks like there’s plenty to pick from. Where should we go first?” Madotsuki inquired, to which Elizabeth already had a suggestion. “Let’s check out the Circus Gallery first! It sounds like fun!”

Madotsuki hummed before looking over at Raiden. “If you say so. What do you say, Raiden?”

All the boy could do was shrug; Risk of danger awaits them no matter the room they decided to see first. _It’s all the same._ But again, he can’t say anything of what he knows.

“Well, then. Circus Gallery it is.” Madotsuki said.

“Come on, you two!” Elizabeth was already a few feet ahead, rushing past the doorway in the Prize Corner that led to Circus Gallery. Both Madotsuki and Raiden blink, having to process before they attempted to catch up. “Whoa, wait for us, Elizabeth!”

Past the doorway was a straight hallway; Aside from the circus-like wallpaper there wasn’t much to it, other than very few vending machines and a couple chairs against the walls. It’s at the end of the hallway where the spark is.

Circus Gallery was like entering the center of a circus tent. Here the wallpaper was still the same, but the golden stars were a little more glittery. To the left and right of where one enters are rows of dining tables, emulating those grandstands. There was a bit of free space in the middle of the room so it doesn’t feel crowded and customers had some movement freedom. Up ahead were some small rows of sitting booths, also with the aesthetic of grandstands, facing the stage located opposite of the doorway. It was made to look like the spec area where circus artists enter the ring to perform and colored mostly in orange hues— currently it was closed with red curtains littered with golden glitter that glistened under the lights and with the cloth’s movements. Some people were already taking their seats here and there, and more were walking in.

Elizabeth, excitedly, rushed to take a seat among the booths that faced the stage. Raiden however preferred to take his seat in one of the dining tables, sure as _heck_ not wanting to be so up close and personal to the stage although he still kept an eye— mostly for Elizabeth’s sake. Madotsuki, as neat as she found all of this, decided to stick close to Raiden, sitting next to him. It seemed the best idea anyways, especially because she could spot a few _familiar faces_ among the other patrons, most of them kids notorious for finding amusement in bullying Raiden.

It’s only a couple minutes, before a joyous booming voice spoke through speakers just shy of public eyes, drawing the audience’s attention to the stage and itself.

_“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages! Be ready to meet for the first time ever, your newest friend! She can sing! She can dance! She can have balloons ready for everybody at a snap of her fingers! I’ve been told she even knows how to make icecream! Please welcome with your applauses, the one and only, CIRCUS BABY!!”_

The voice gives room to music, and the glistening curtains of the stage open apart, to finally reveal its _shining attraction._

A big clown girl greeted the audience. White clown face with rosy cheeks and a rosy little clown nose, auburn hair in high pigtails, frilly red skirt accompanied with a red top with matching frills on the shoulders, and red jester shoes.

_“I smell birthday cake. Do you?”_ She says to the audience with a playful wink. _“It is a pleasure for me and my friends to meet you in this delightful day. Today is only the first day of many to come, where we’ll gather for a fun time.”_ Baby then proceeds to sing a song, a shiny microphone held in her left hand.

“Wow. And I thought my Dad _was_ tall.” Madotsuki chirps softly as she rests her chin on one palm, with the elbow resting on the table. “She kinda… reminds me of _Elizabeth._ Don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Is all Raiden answered with. He knew that William built Baby with Elizabeth on his mind: Bold redheads. So it’s no wonder that Elizabeth seemed instantly enthralled by the big charismatic clown from where she sat.

“Wow, she is— WONDERFUL!” Elizabeth could barely contain her voice, though most of it was muffled down by the music.

“So I take you liked the surprise.” William drew closer, hands behind his back, though he’s a bit off to the side as not to block anyone’s view of the show. “I’m glad you like her, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth felt like she couldn’t take her eyes off Baby, but looked to her father, absolute glee taking over her features. “You made her for me? I love her, she’s amazing, Dad!!” Pride clearly filled the man with his daughter’s more than positive reaction, even though he was already proud; Baby was considered his greatest feat, or at least one of them-- and this time it was brought by his own effort and his own effort alone, unlike Fredbear and SpringBonnie. Not that he regarded these as lesser by any means, but he couldn’t say he was _entirely_ responsible for them, since they were built by the team work between him and the _owner of Fredbear’s Family Diner._

Circus Baby and the other Funtimes, though? His creations, and his alone.

“Can I play with her after the show, Dad? Please?” Elizabeth asked, ecstatic. William could only sigh softly. “Elizabeth… what did we talk about back at the entrance?” He says patiently. His daughter deflates a tad, but kept her defiance. “Aw come on, Dad! Let me play with her!”

“Elizabeth.” William spoke again, more stern this time before her persistence. “We have rules for a reason. If I make an exception for you I’ll have to make so for everybody else.”

“But Dad-! You made her for me-!”

“I can’t and I won’t bend the rules for you.”

“But—“

“No, Elizabeth. End of this topic. And if you keep insisting, you’ll be _grounded._” William firmly put up. “Are we clear, young lady?”

Elizabeth only glares up at her father, anger visible in her expression. If she was Superman (uh, Supergirl?) she could very well be burning two holes through his skull right now. But she steps back from the topic, turning away from him and back to Baby’s show, her arms crossed, along with tensed shoulders and an angry expression.

“Glad we’re clear on this subject. Now enjoy the show like everybody else.” William walked away once that conversation was done. Elizabeth only growled, spewing venom and muttering bitter words under her breath.

“Selfish party-pooper. _I wish you had disappeared, not Mommy._”

From where they were seated, Madotsuki and Raiden had a pretty privileged view of the whole exchange. The brunette had a knowing and slightly exasperated expression. “Yikes. Look man, knowing Elizabeth, she’ll try playing with Baby behind his back anyway. She won’t let this stop her so easily.”

“Yeah…” Raiden nodded. He knew his sister very well, and thus knew how correct Madotsuki’s words were. And that’s exactly what concerned him.

How is he going to stop or convince Elizabeth from approaching Baby, when she’s such an intractable truck when it comes to achieving her goals? Even more so when he can’t tell the truth?

As for Elizabeth, as she watched the show, her anger seemed to subside, improving her mood back up. However, it’s very unlikely that she simply forgot the ordeal. She won’t give up.

Not even her own father will get in her way.


	6. In the Scoop of Icecream pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... The icecream is warm now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half of what was originally meant to be a whole chapter, but was getting pretty long (compared to the others, at least) so I found better to split it in at least two, so it doesn't get too long and too tiring for you people to have to read in one go.

The rest of Baby’s presentation went without a hitch.

Though by the time the clown wrapped up for the time being and the audience was dispersing to check out other attractions the establishment offered, at first moment Madotsuki nor Raiden could spot Elizabeth.

“Oh no…! W-where is she??” Raiden was immediately dread-struck, but once enough of the audience cleared, Madotsuki looked nothing short of deadpan.

“Are you even surprised?” She points with her thumb towards a corner of Baby’s stage where the lights didn’t shine on as much and was partially obstructed by props. Easy to overlook it, but since they both knew what (err, who) to look for, it was pretty easy to spot Elizabeth’s sneaky form there, seemingly ready to climb the stage.

“Oh my God!” Raiden is throughout alarmed by the sight. “Elizabeth! She’ll-!” He pauses, eyes darting at Madotsuki for a fraction only. “- get in a lot of trouble!” He knows that is an understatement at best but it’s not like he can say much else without revealing what he shouldn’t.

“Yeah, if Mr. Afton finds out or catches her she’ll be grounded ‘till Halloween. And if we tell her ‘don’t do it’ she won’t listen either.” Madotsuki sighs, but gently nudges Raiden with her arm. “Just follow my lead.”

Elizabeth was leaning against the side of the stage where Baby stood watching the children leave the room, just about ready to hold onto the edge and climb up, when her little brother and friend basically gang on her from both her sides.

“There you are, Elizabeth!” Madotsuki had a wide grin on her face. “Com’on, we gotta check out the arcades! They have a ton of new games!”

Elizabeth, dumbfounded, was about to respond, when Raiden interrupted. “Yeah, sis! Looks like they even got a Baby-centric game!”

“W-wha? But-“ The redhead was about to protest, but both other kids dragged her away by her shoulders and arms. “Com’on Elizabeth! While the arcades aren’t full! Or else we’re gonna have to wait in lines to play them!”

“But-! But- But-!”

Mentally, Raiden allowed himself to ‘whew.’ Threat evaded. For now. Elizabeth relented for now before the other two’s surge of eagerness, but figured she’s just gonna have to wait for another opportunity.

She’s not going to give up so easily.

That’s how the grand-opening went for the most part; Elizabeth attempting to sneak up to Baby in-between attractions only to be intercepted away by Madotsuki and Raiden who would pull her to check out something else with them. A couple times it was William who caught her just before she could sneak up into the stage, knowing his daughter well enough to have a great hunch that she would be there. He’s got to admit he’s pretty thankful these two have kept her at bay for this long—which is nothing short of impressive, if he’s being honest. Elizabeth was just that bold.

Raiden isn’t the best persuader, though. Especially in front of Elizabeth’s stubbornness. A lot of the success in dragging her away from Baby, in most part, likely had to be credited to Madotsuki, with the boy following her lead.

But an unstoppable force can’t be stopped forever.

Currently they were watching the final wrapping of a performance in Funtime Auditorium. Elizabeth was fine watching it, despite clearly liking Circus Gallery more. Meanwhile, it appeared Madotsuki had been genuinely appealed by the bear attraction and his handpuppet. The dynamic full of teamwork and slapstick between the bear and his rabbit sidekick was just highly entertaining; How the bear had an energy that busted through the roof, and the rabbit being the perfect yet still somewhat enabling foil to him.

A lot of kids seemed to like Funtime Freddy, some as his own character, and others for finding some familiarity from Fredbear’s in him (probably for both mascots being bears in tophats.)

Funtime Freddy had a stage much similar to Baby’s but just an insignificant bit smaller and colored a soft lilac with purple curtains with glittery silver stars. It was also accompanied by a separate smaller stage which was more of a cove where another attraction sometimes acted along with Funtime Freddy or independently, Funtime Foxy. Unlike Funtime Freddy’s stage, Funtime Foxy’s cove could be pretty much entirely obstructed by curtains when closed- curtains colored and patterned exactly like the curtains in the bear’s stage.

Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy seemed very similar acting-wise, though Funtime Foxy gave more of a ‘theatre guy’ vibe with their larger-than-life and confident voice.

Despite Funtime Foxy’s cove being somewhat simpler design-wise than Funtime Freddy’s stage, only the fox’s had small booths lined around the base in a little row.

Funtime Auditorium was decorated much similarly to Circus Gallery but with a slightly more ‘casual’ touch to it. The wallpaper was the same, but in a lilac and white scheme, while the stars were silver colored. The tables were more similar to the ones used in Fredbear’s Family Diner, with white sheets littered in confetti-like designs. These small changes in details kept the room within the circus theme, while also making Funtime Auditorium a bit more akin to a comedy stand of sorts, especially with Funtime Freddy acting. It was also from this room where customers could reach one of the two arcade rooms in the establishment, and the restrooms off to the side (Parts & Services room could also be reached from Funtime Auditorium on the far-end of the room, though that was a staff-only area so the entrance to it looks a lot meeker as to not ‘intrude’ into the experience the room offered to its patrons.)

It was by the time that the two mascots were wrapping up their show for the time being that Madotsuki realized something: ‘Mother nature was calling for her,’ and when mother nature calls, you _answer_ it.

Kids were already getting off their seats, either to go check another attraction, to the arcades to play more games for tickets, or to check out at the Prize Corner either what prize they can get with their tickets or how many tickets they were still missing for certain prizes, or to buy more tokens to play the games. Madotsuki softly nudged Raiden closer, keeping her legs together tightly, a very exasperated expression on her features.

“Uh Raiden, think you can keep an eye on Elizabeth by yourself just for a moment?”

Raiden didn’t think he could, it was mostly thanks to her initiative that they were managing to keep Elizabeth at bay. “I—I don’t know, Mado.” He looked apprehensible, not believing he could successfully hold it off.

Madotsuki tried to be as reassuring as possible. “It will be really quick, I just need to— you know, you gotta go when you gotta go.”

“.. oh.” His friend’s body language was obvious to read: She gotta go. “O- okay then.” It’s not like anyone can argue against _that;_ Nobody can refuse a call from mother nature.

Madotsuki gave the boy a small nod, before running to the restrooms like a mouse runs from a cat; She probably had been holding it for a bit.

Raiden takes a deep breath. He can… he can do this while Madotsuki’s using the restroom, right? After all that shouldn’t take too long.

He ran to catch up with Elizabeth, who currently had her head down counting some tickets in her hands. She pouted slightly. “So close…!”

Raiden peeked over her shoulder before getting to her side. “You’re grinding tickets for one of the ‘PlushBabies’, right?”

“Mhm.” Elizabeth flexed her jaw very slightly as she pouted again, shuffling the tickets in her hands. She definitely wants a PlushBaby from the Prize Corner once she saw it, especially considering that Michael broke apart her Funtime Foxy figurine she got from Fredbear’s Family Diner’s prize corner a couple weeks ago. “But I’m still some tickets away.” She looks up, tucking her tickets into a pocket. “Where’s Mado?”

“Oh, she’s in the restroom.”

“Ah. Well she can catch up to us at the arcades, right? I still gotta play for more tickets.”

The siblings would’ve just gone to the nearest arcade room next door, but from the doorway they could see Michael and most of his nasty friends among the few kids currently playing the games there, incredibly noisy with the kids’ own voices either gloating or raging at the games they were playing, as well as the beeps, chips and tunes of the games themselves, one almost overlapping the other.

Neither Michael nor his friends noticed the two kids as they were all focused on the games. Elizabeth frowned and decided she would rather go to the other arcade room, accessible from Ballora Gallery, to which Raiden followed.

Ballora Gallery was a lot more similar to Funtime Auditorium than to Circus Gallery, but was also its own thing. The wallpaper there was a blue and white scheme with silver stars, and Ballora’s stage was like Funtime Freddy’s, but blue colored and with a slighter wider space for Ballora ro dance as well as her ‘stage assistants,’ the Minireenas. The curtains were purple, identical to Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy’s. A few tables were placed at the opposite end of the room, with a rather wide empty space in the middle of the room, where the black and white checkered floor tiles were covered by a layer of a slightly different material colored in checkered bright colors, like a dancefloor, where children could dance by themselves or by following Ballora’s moves.

As of the moment, it appears Ballora’s performance had just started, and currently no children were on the dance floor since the animatronic’s performance was mostly just presentation.

Aside from another arcade room, the kitchen and supply closet were also connected to Ballora Gallery, but those are both staff-only areas.

The two siblings skipped Ballora’s show and went to the arcade—they and Madotsuki had already watched the animatronic’s presentation some time ago when Madotsuki and Raiden were keeping Elizabeth too busy with them to sneak into Circus Gallery.

Elizabeth dug into her pocket just as she was ready to grind the games for more tickets, when it dawned on her. “Oh—I’m out of tokens!” She puffed her cheeks, a little frustrated. “You got any left, Raiden?”

Raiden, holding his Fredbear plushie, reached into the pockets of his pants with his free hand, only to come out empty-handed as well. He shook his head. Despite her minimal frustration, Elizabeth shrugged it off. “Oh well, I still got some change, we can buy more tokens in the Prize Corner. Com’on.”

They stepped back. The Prize Corner had some people in it but fortunately no lines. Most kids were checking out the shelves and counter displays, still wondering what prize they should aim for. At the Lobby area of the room, lots of the parents were chilling, some talking with each other.

Raiden exchanged some of Elizabeth’s change for more tokens with the Prize Corner attendant. When he looked up, he noticed that Elizabeth was looking around, very attentively. He tilted his head.

“… Elizabeth? What’s the matter?”

She turned her head to look at him, and a wide grin spread across her lips. One of both excitement and mischief.

_“Dad isn’t watching.”_

Raiden didn’t even need context to know what was crossing Elizabeth’s mind. And he absolutely paled at it, feeling his stomach tightening.

“E-Elizzabeth you really shouldn’t…” He was doing the smallest head shake ever, probably not even realizing he was doing so. He was obviously scared, to which Elizabeth took as worry. She merely waved a dismissive and at him, her smile a little more reassuring.

“It’s okay Raiden. He won’t know a thing! It’ll be fine.”

When she lowered her hand, Raiden clasped it between both of his (Fredbear plush being just held under his arm,) wracked with the terrifying feeling that if he ever let her go now, she’d be going forever.

“P-please don’t Elizabeth!! If you approach Baby she-- you’ll--“ The truth became a lump in his throat that made him choke and feel like he was drowning in all the knowledge he was cursed with, but he swallowed it back down. He had to. He had no choice. “You’ll g-get into a lot of trouble! I don’t want that for you-! Besides, w-what about the arcades, right? You still need more tickets for PlushBaby.” He was obviously trying to convince Elizabeth.

“Yeah the PlushBabies are pretty cool but they don’t compare to the REAL Baby.”

As endearing as it was with Raiden wanting to look after her, Elizabeth chuckled but it wasn’t mean-spirited. She gently tugged her hand off his hold and placed both of hers onto his shoulders. “I won’t get in trouble, little brother. I promise.” She then winked. “’cause _you will cover for me._”

“W-what???”

Elizabeth gave her brother’s shoulders a single pat. “Just hear me out--! I just wanna play with Baby a little, she’s really cool, okay? And Dad’s just being mean. He’ll have to get through here to go to Circus Gallery, right? So if you see him approach from any other room while you’re here you just enter Circus Gallery and I’ll have enough time to get off like nothing happened.”

Raiden felt himself fighting with every fiber of his little body, the urge to panic. “E-Elizabeth I—I don’t like this…”

“Relax, will you? It’s a great plan and I’m not doing anything wrong! I just wanna be friends with Baby!”

_Baby’s not your friend, she never will be. She just pretends. They all just pretend-_

“—so if you cover for me just a bit, it’s gonna be okay. I’m just gonna play with Baby a little bit.”

Raiden’s starting to run out of words. “Elizabeth y-you don’t under— Baby’s not what you—“

“Don’t be silly!” Elizabeth was barely listening to him at that point, too invested in her little plan, completely unable to envision how anything could possibly go wrong.

The redhead pulls back, excited grin already plastered over her face. “Everything’s gonna be okay, I promise. Nobody will ever know!” And before anyone knew it, she was already going down the hall, too excited to heed any of her little brother’s warnings as he called out to her.

“Elizabeth no— ELIZABETH!”

Raiden stood there watching his sister disappear from his sight, in the verge of absolute panic.

What does he do? _God what does he do now?_

Madotsuki.

_He had to get Madotsuki._

Only she can help him pull Elizabeth off this terrible, TERRIBLE idea. Somehow Madotsuki succeeds in getting through Elizabeth’s stubbornness. She should be leaving the restrooms by now.

He ran over to Funtime Auditorium.

Meanwhile, man what a relief.

Madotsuki had already been feeling she would need to go around halfway Funtime Freddy’s performance, but held it in till the ending because, frankly, she didn’t want to miss the rest of the show... and maybe because she didn’t want to get up mid-performance to go to the restrooms, as that’s fundamentally the same as getting up and having to walk in front of people until one slips out of the chair row in a movie theatre while the movie is playing, and that is always a very awkward situation to carry on no matter how polite one is at it.

It would’ve been easier to hold it if she hadn’t had so many sodas today. Oh well. No regrets.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1

By the time she stepped out of the restrooms, people had already cleared out of Funtime Auditorium after the last show ended.

Yet, she found herself almost immediately jumped on by a huge looming figure that seemed to almost make twice her height (which was no big feat, given she’s a mere 3’ 8’’.)

“Hello there!! What’s such a little pumpkin like you doing all alone??”

Madotsuki leans back, blinking as she has to take a moment to register who even had just showed up in front of her like that. The first detail that came in contact with her sight was the _massive bear grin_ smiling down at her.

Wait, that’s—

That’s _Funtime Freddy._

Madotsuki blinks one more time, now a swift move of her head to fully face the clown bear looking down at her. “Wait—you guys _can leave the stage??_”

Funtime Freddy laughed. “Of course we can! We LOVE being close up with everybody else! Right, BonBon?”

The blue little rabbit handpuppet by Funtime Freddy’s right arm let out a brief giggle of his own. “Right! It’s always so much more fun with everybody else! Why would we not leave the stage?”

“Because--“ Madotsuki stops herself. These mascots being able to leave their stages sounds kind of counter-productive to William’s rule not to get too close to them. But thinking further back, she’s seen both Fredbear and SpringBonnie off the stage and among patrons frequently, when she’s been there with Raiden and Elizabeth (with Raiden actively avoiding the two mascots.) The only one she’s never seen in any other place was that Puppet that lives inside a music box, yet it always seemed attentive somehow. She shrugs. “Actually it’s nothing.”

“Of course it is!” BonBon rolled his eyes but it wasn’t in a real exasperated or mean-spirited way given the smile never faltering from the bunny’s face. “Where there is fun, we follow!”

“Which again begs the question!” Funtime Freddy leans forward slightly, resting his left palm against the doorframe of the restrooms’ entrance, taking an almost casual posture, but it was also… a little bit _imposing._ “Why’s a little munchkin like you _all by yourself_ instead of having fun with everybody??”

Madotsuki vaguely gestured behind her over her shoulder with her thumb as she slowly became coherent again. “Uh… bathroom?”

“… Oh!”

BonBon softly hooked his paw around one of the bear’s ears. “See Freddy? I told you: Not all who wander are lost!”

While this was possibly any kid’s dream come true, it was still a bit weird to go through this without having been prepared in any way. If she told this later to her parents they probably wouldn’t take her seriously—and they’re great listeners.

Funtime Freddy shrugs, but the grin never left him. “Welp, I guess you’re right, BonBon. So I take that means you’re not lost _at all_, you jellybean?”

Lords, three terms of endearment in a matter of seconds. Madotsuki leans backwards a bit to glance out into the room. “No, not at all. I’m actually with—“ She pauses, realizing neither Raiden nor Elizabeth were where she last saw them. “Oh. They must’ve wandered off somewhere else while I was in the bathroom.” She gave the bear a half-hearted, slightly dismissive and reassuring hand wave. “I’m sure I can find them.”

The twin-braided brunette was about to head off to do exactly that, but felt a firm left hand rest onto her shoulder.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1  
L U R E = P R O C E S S I N G …

“Oh! Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours, little cupcake!” Another term to the list.

Funtime Freddy’s hand was bigger than that of an adult’s (which should probably be expected, he’s a _bear_, after all,) and it felt… kind of _heavy_ on Madotsuki’s shoulder, if she’s being honest.

She stops in her tracks, looking over to the mascot with a look that could be best described as quizzical.

Funtime Freddy appears to only grin wider. “I think I saw where the kids that were with you went!”

“Yeah! We can show you the way!” BonBon added.

“Oh, um-“ Madotsuki can’t quite formulate a response at that moment. Like, that is really nice of them, seriously. But it’s just… not really _that_ necessary? Or at least not as necessary as they’re making this out to be?

Either way, a response from her doesn’t appear to be something they’re even waiting for; Funtime Freddy’s hand moved from Madotsuki’s shoulder and went to her back, subtly but solidly ushering her to accompany him as he began to guide her. “If I’m not mistaken, your friends went this way, little muffin!”

“Oh, uh—thanks, I guess?” Madotsuki glances around not really able yet to tell what specific ‘way’ the mascot referred to. Well, that’s still fine.

Right?

“Oh it’s no problem at all, buttercup!” Funtime Freddy’s eyes discreetly shifted to the door to Parts & Services.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1  
L U R E = T R U E  
R U N P R O T O C O L = P R O C E S S I N G …

_“No problem at all!”_

**“-MADO!!!”**

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 2  
E R R O R : C O U N T E R V A R I A B L E I N V A L I D   
A B O R T P R O T O C O L

The sheer shout nearly made Madotsuki jump as she and her robotic acquaintance looked over to see Raiden who had just entered Funtime Auditorium. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

Again cursed with the knowledge, he knew what Funtime Freddy was doing, and despite his intense fear of these things, he didn’t know what power in him enabled him to just run towards them and wrap an arm around Madotsuki’s own. He knew full well he was foiling the child counter. He and Funtime Freddy exchanged a look, and despite Raiden’s obvious fear in his eyes, the bear withdrew his hand away from the girl, his grin and friendly energy never faltering.

“Oh look at that! Looks like you found them after all!”

“Yay!” BonBon raised his paws into the air.

“Actually, I think _he_ found us.” Madotsuki lightly corrected, seemingly oblivious of the undertones of this encounter. “But thanks anyway.” Yeah, she was understandably oblivious, and she couldn’t be blamed. She may be a witch but not even she can know everything. She’s not all-seeing.

“Well, hope you kids don’t get lost again! It always sucks to get separated from your friends!” Funtime Freddy softly advised as he stepped back, knowing he had no choice but to let them go. He never lost his smile or glee. “Take care, little muffins!”

Feeling just a tiny little more relieved by the distance Funtime Freddy was giving them, Raiden nudged Madotsuki’s arm he still had secured. “A-are you okay, Mado…?”

Madotsuki tilted her head to the side, visibly confused by his inquiry. “… of course I am. Just had too much soda I guess.” Why would she not be okay…?

Once she finally has room to consider her friend’s expression, her brows furrowed lightly and her own expression took some weight. “… are _you_ okay, though? You look… pale.”

The little boy let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “I- I need your help.” He says as she softly dragged her by her arm with him, guiding them both out of Funtime Auditorium and into the Prize Corner. As he walked out with his friend, he looked back over his shoulder, seeing Funtime Freddy standing still right where he last positioned himself. His gaze was intense and unwavering, fixated on them, his grin wide and ethereal. Raiden shudders and looks away again.

“I-it’s Elizabeth, she-” Raiden begins as they’re in the Prize Corner. “I t-tried—I really tried to make her stay, but she wouldn’t listen to me…!”

It wasn’t even necessary for him to elaborate for Madotsuki to get what happened. But of course she didn’t have the full picture here either. For all she knew, they were keeping Elizabeth from being grounded.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine that it was a _life or death_ situation.

Which was why she was completely taken off-guard by Raiden on the borderline verge of a full-blown freak-out, where he madly dashed into the hallway to Circus Gallery. “W-we gotta stop her before it’s _too late!!_” His voice cracked, essentially leaving a confused Madotsuki eating dust.

She never saw Raiden run so fast, or with that much urgency. It even took her a moment to realize she was behind. “Whoa— w-wait for me-!” She staggers and almost trips on herself as she jogs behind the boy, who felt like was already dimensions away ahead of her.

What was going on?

Meanwhile, Elizabeth successfully snuck into Circus Gallery. Baby appeared to be singing somewhat, but it was mostly just a filler not to simply have her standing oddly still and quiet on her stage, as it wasn’t a full performance. There was still a small group of four kids in there (five if one counts Elizabeth who just came,) but they seemed to be already slowly dissipating as one was already getting up and walking out. It seems the group had just stuck there together to finish their food before getting to other attractions.

Elizabeth didn’t think they would <strike>dare</strike> go out of their way to rat her out, but it was a risk she wasn’t willing to run. So she took a seat at one of the booths near the stage and pretended to just enjoy Baby singing—which wasn’t all untrue, she did enjoy that, but her intent there was to play the waiting game. Wait until there’s nobody immediately nearby to witness her act of defiance, so she can get away with it without ever the risk of consequences. She also looked around to make sure neither her father nor any staff member was around.

And if anyone else was about to come over, she had Raiden to alert her.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 5

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 4

Baby continued to enthusiastically sing, shiny microphone held close to her faceplate mouth, blue eyes friendly and calm like the daylight sky, but still alight.  
A boy just finished his cupcake, but now he was thirsty. He got up and left, likely to ask their parent to order them a soda.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 3

The rest soon followed suit, each for their own reasons and wants.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 2

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1

One.

_One._

** _One._ **

Something happened when only one child was present in the room.

When only Elizabeth was in the room.

Baby stopped singing, lowering her mic, her blue eyes now fixated on the young redhead before her stage.

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1  
L U R E = P R O C E S S I N G …

Elizabeth grinned upon finally having Circus Gallery all to herself. She wasted no time in getting off her seat and slowly climbing up the stage, much to Baby’s pleasant surprise, she was being spared from calling the girl over, she was coming by herself.

“What’s this? All that just to see me?” The clown girl sounded flattered.

“Of course! I wanted to since the moment I first saw you!” Elizabeth admitted, smiling almost ear to ear.

Baby seemed to smile herself. “That’s so nice of you to come see me.”

“Don’t tell Dad that I’m here!” Elizabeth heeds. “He wouldn’t let me.”

“Don’t worry, little one. My clown lips are sealed.” Baby reassured the girl, a slightly dismissive tone added to her voice. She even held an index finger up in front of her mouth for emphasis.

Elizabeth’s smile seemed to only widen in relief that Baby wasn’t going to tell on her. “You promise?”

The tall clown girl reached for something behind her with her empty hand, taking out a vanilla ice cream cone with a bright red cherry on top. In reality, Baby has an internal icecream dispenser, but its opening is on her back rather than on her front. That way, when she dispenses icecream, she can reach and take them without showing the mechanism of the dispenser. It was designated that way so that the feature wouldn’t break immersion for children, making it look like Baby could simply pull icecream out of nowhere as if she was making use of a hammerspace (a concept used by cartoon characters where they can pull objects seemingly from thin air, usually behind them, or hide in places that realistically they wouldn’t fit, like a thin tree.)

Also, the front was already equipped with _something else._

Baby held the icecream out for Elizabeth, as an offering and foundation to start the buildup of a trust and friendship.

_“I promise.”_

Elizabeth went closer to accept the offering, mildly curious about it as she looked down at it and feeling its coldness at her hold. How could Baby keep icecream cold and solid without a freezer or fridge? Everybody knows that without anything of the sort, icecream melts. She took a ginger lick at the cold treat, determining it was in fact cold, fresh and sweet. Baby only watched.

“Thank you, Baby!” Elizabeth beamed happily, then quieted lightly. “I don’t know why he won’t let me come see you, you’re _wonderful!_”

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1  
L U R E = T R U E  
R U N P R O T O C O L = P R O C E S S I N G …

Baby only smiled in return.

Elizabeth, slowly but surely, came to realize how _quiet_ Circus Gallery was, with no music or singing, and only the two of them. The silence actually made her paranoid, and she quickly took a passing look around her to make sure nobody had showed up to watch or catch her red-handed.

That was exactly what she wanted, but it was still so strange. No matter what, no room at Fredbear’s Family Diner was successfully left empty, even in rooms where no special attractions were being held. How could this happen so easily at Circus Gallery if so many people appeared to love Baby so much, she included?

She couldn’t help but look back up at Baby with a raised brow, curious.

“Huh. Where did the other children go?”

C H I L D C O U N T E R = 0 1  
L U R E = T R U E  
R U N P R O T O C O L = T R U E

Baby didn’t respond.

Instead, the front of her torso opened.

_“Elizabeth!!?”_

Raiden shouted the moment he got to the doorway of the room, eyes widen in pure terror once they set at the stage.

Elizabeth barely had enough room to turn around to see her little brother’s face upon hearing his voice.

A massive, metallic claw-like device that could only be born in the most twisted of minds, shoot and crushed Elizabeth’s middle with an iron-clad death grip, who instantly dropped her icecream and let out a scream at the extreme unexpected pain. Her scream was cut short once the claw pulled the small body in a swift movement, tucking everything back inside the clown girl, a mere dolled up death-trap.

All that in the span of the drop of an icecream, maybe even less.

**“ELIZABETH NO!!!”**

Raiden’s widen eyes teared up, hot tears running down his absolutely mortified and heartbroken face. He stood in place, paralyzed. Instinct-wise, he wanted to rush over and take Elizabeth out, but he knew way too well that there was nothing that could be done for her now. He showed up right at the rate where the protocol couldn't be interrupted.

“Raiden! I think I heard a scream? What’s up?” Madotsuki caught up just at the exact time for her to miss the last hint of the gruesome view. It was clear it was designed to be made in the blink of an eye once it was set to run.

This ordeal could feel like it was forever, but in truth it could be orchestrated and timed within very few seconds. A frag of a second late and you could miss it entirely. Had Raiden been a frag of a second late getting to Madotsuki and Funtime Freddy…

“Raiden?” Madotsuki is put off by the boy’s stillness and silence. When she catches up behind him at the doorway, she puts a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to nudge him to look at her, but feeling her contact, he just twisted around and buried his face into her chest before she could even take a look at his expression. His arm holding the Fredbear plush locked that way, and his free hand clenched at loose fabric of the girl’s pink sweater.

She’s taken aback and completely dumbfounded, but makes no effort to pull him away, on the contrary. Despite not understanding what could’ve gotten him so distressed, she softly held her arms around him. She’s surprised but she’s no stranger to this, she’s done this for M████o sometimes— the memory weights on her. She looks into the room, but doesn’t see anything out of place. Baby’s where she’s always been. The closest she spots is a cone of vanilla icecream splattered on the stage floor next to Baby, but she can’t come up with anything with that alone. It’s just icecream.

She doesn’t see any trace of Elizabeth anywhere, which only further confuses her. Where did that girl go? Maybe she’s hiding somewhere as to not get caught?  
Madotsuki looks the other way upon hearing an incoming stampede of excited children down the hall. She shifted herself and Raiden against the wall so that they wouldn’t get pushed or tossed around by the crowd that now took over Circus Gallery again, also completely oblivious to what just happened in there. After all, Baby’s next show was scheduled to start any moment now, after Ballora’s.

Dozens of children occupied tables and booths. Baby’s presentation started as if nothing had happened, and Baby herself acted much like she hadn’t done anything, much less that she had something _else_ inside her at that exact moment.

However, her movements were kind of _jittery_ compared to her previous presentation. It’s as if she was trying to perform right after somebody had let her out in the cold.

Not even 20 seconds into the show, all the music was abruptly stopped and all lights went out for a moment, before the standard ones lit back up. The curtains of Baby’s stage quickly swiped closed, obstructing the clown. Before anyone could begin to question what was happening, a male voice came from the speakers in place of the music- it sounded like William’s but it was hard to tell for sure.

_“We have encountered a serious problem in the establishment. We are ceasing all activity and closing down early. For your own safety we request that you please leave the premises immediately. Please try to leave in an organized and orderly fashion.”_

The speakers repeated the message, as staff members showed up to urge and usher customers away and out of the establishment.

“Wh-what’s this? What’s going on?” Madotsuki found herself pressured to move and join the flow of the crowd, Raiden still clinging to her like his life depended on it, his face buried against her sweater.

Eventually all patrons were evacuated outside, staff members the last ones to leave. Madotsuki, amidst the crowd of confused children and adults, looked around trying to see if she spotted Elizabeth anywhere in the crowd, but there were too many people.

A lot of people, especially concerned adults, obviously expected an explanation. Many were chattering, asking or even demanding a justification.

William Afton stood before the now locked down facade of Circus Baby’s Pizza World with some staff members by his sides. Due to the high flux of people parked before the location, he had to communicate with a megaphone.

“We at Circus Baby’s Pizza World would like to deeply apologize for this immeasurable inconvenience. Unfortunately, our staff came across sure signals of _gas leaks_ inside the establishment, which is why immediate action was to be taken to ensure customer safety and integrity. As a formal apology, we would like to redirect those who are interested to Fredbear’s Family Diner, where attendance today will be for free for those present here. We at Circus Baby’s Pizza World would like to thank you for understanding.”

“Gas leaks…?” Madotsuki mutters. “But doesn’t that usually smell strong?” She doesn’t think she caught any unusual odors at any moment. Sure that most likely could have been because staff acted fast, given the urgency in how they took it.

With the explanation given, the crowd began to disperse around her and Raiden, and she agitatedly looked around trying to see if now she could spot Elizabeth anywhere. While most of the people went to Fredbear’s accepting the offer, some just left. And as the people dissipated, still no sign of Elizabeth anywhere. Even when the two of them were the last ones remaining.

“I couldn’t see Elizabeth anywhere whatsoever. Where could this girl have gotten to?”

Raiden, still in shock, shifted a little to hold his Fredbear plush close to his face very tightly. His eyes were both widen and glassy, slightly puffy from tears. His voice was cracked and a little wheezy, tight in his throat. He could only bring himself to say one thing.

“… she never left the building…”

“What?” Madotsuki’s expression is incredulous. There’s… there’s no way they would’ve just let Elizabeth behind.

Right?

She looks over the closed facade of the circus-like location—even thick chains and locks had secured the sealing of the entrance. Elizabeth couldn’t… she couldn’t possibly still be in there. They would hear her knocking and yelling to be let out, right? But it was completely silent, completely empty.

She didn’t get to see with her own two eyes what happened in that room, of course she will still be somewhat hopeful and positive.

“She—she probably headed off somewhere, or went with the crowd. I’m sure we’ll meet up with her later…”

Raiden knew that couldn’t be further from the truth, but he couldn’t bring himself to argue against that, he couldn’t bring himself to speak right now. Heck, he barely felt like he could breathe. His throat was tight, his stomach sunken and nauseous with a twist.

Madotsuki never really let go of him, but shifted a hand over his shoulders to give him some kind of comfort and support, despite not knowing what made him need that so much.

“Do… do you wanna go to Fredbear’s or…?”

Raiden only lowered his head, pressing his lower face against the top of his golden plush’s head as he closed his eyes, feeling them heavy with more tears in the verge of coming any second. His voice is heavy but weak and tired, not fully free from the shock.

“… I jus’ wanna go home…”

Madotsuki only nods, as she very slowly walked Raiden back to the Afton residence—she didn’t mind complying with his pace rather than her own.

However she couldn’t keep herself from sparing a last look towards the locked down facade of Circus Baby’s Pizza World over her shoulder, before leaving with her clearly shaken down friend.

He will probably tell her what was up, later. For now she knows he just needs her there with him.

In fact, he would need her now more than ever.


	7. There Were Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raiden and Madotsuki (try to) come to terms with the events at Circus Baby's grand-opening and Elizabeth's "disappearance."

Within days, it was established that Elizabeth fell victim to gas leak in Circus Baby’s Pizza World, and that she was at the exact site where the leak happened, so by the time measures were taken (despite the fast acting of staff) she had already been struck by it, hence why she wasn’t found among other patrons during evacuation. 

And within a week, Circus Baby’s Pizza World was no more.

Madotsuki only got out and passed by the building because that was the path she had to take to a local library in order to return a book she had rented two weeks ago. When she passed by the establishment, she could see everything that made Baby’s Pizza World, well, Baby’s Pizza World, had been fully hollowed out, in such short span of time no less. The facade had been completely stripped away, and the only thing present was a ‘FOR SALE’ sign placed in front of it. 

William Afton must’ve been in a hurry to leave out as little as possible of the place where his daughter perished. 

And honestly Madotsuki didn’t like passing by there either. It’s like doing so made handling the memory a lot more painful than it already is. A lot closer than it already is. But she had to this one time, and she initially intended to just avert her eyes away from the building, but when she finally went to pass by it she couldn’t help but to look, as much as it left a bitter taste at the back of her mouth and tightened her chest. 

If she feels this way, imagine how Raiden must be feeling.

Later that same day, she had visited Raiden. Both were in his bedroom sitting at the edge of his bed, with equally lost gazes at the rest of his room in front of them, but it was unlikely they were looking at anything in particular. Even in each other’s company, they were eerily quiet; His room, and the house, even more so (William wasn’t home at the moment, likely working. And God only knows where Michael went to, as usual.) 

“… so you passed by there?” Raiden spoke out, his voice quieter than usual. “I don’t think I could. Not after…” He doesn’t finish his sentence, it hurts even to say it out loud. Fredbear plushie is kept seated between the two children. 

Madotsuki shook her head, her hands on her sides, resting onto the edge of the mattress. She herself is quiet as well. “I didn’t really _want_ to. But I had to cross there to get somewhere else.” A silent pause. “It’s already cleared out. The building’s even been put to sale.” 

“… dad didn’t waste time.” 

“Mr. Afton’s always been very… _elusive_ to me. But if I were to guess he probably didn’t want the place to stay for too long as it’s probably only a reminder of… of what happened.” 

Raiden knew that wasn’t quite the reason William had been so quick to take Baby’s Pizza World apart once he had the go to do so. But he couldn’t blame Madotsuki for guessing that way. Anyone would guess that or something similar. After all to those who don’t know better, William’s just a father who very recently lost one of his children in an unfortunate accident. Of course he wouldn’t want the memory of it to stand. To those who don’t know better, that’s what made the most sense. 

And to a certain, but _very small degree,_ it wasn’t all untrue. William really hadn’t planned on Elizabeth dying to his creations, and he was upset. It’s… kind of different when it’s one of his own children. No one would comment on the topic of ‘picking favorites,’ but Elizabeth had always been a daddy’s little girl—they became a little distant after Mrs. Afton vanished. But it still doesn’t stop him. Since it already happened, he might as well reap whatever comes from it all the same. 

“… yeah.” Is all Raiden responded his friend with. He couldn’t disagree without risk of exposing the truth. 

Silence takes over again. Neither child felt truly ‘chatty’ today. Rightfully so. They just stay there, sitting side by side in a mutual silence. 

The past week was so… calm, without Elizabeth’s stubbornness and determination. It felt _wrong._ Everything felt wrong with her jarring absence. Wrong. Incomplete. 

“Now what...?” Raiden asks suddenly. 

“... ‘Now what’ what?” Madotsuki usually was more... tactile. But it’s more than understandable that she’d be under her own weather. 

Now, Raiden was no stranger to death, not by a long shot. Yet, it is that sort of thing that never gets easier. Much on the contrary: The more you go through it in life (especially from such a young age,) they just pile onto one another and together tear off a part of you every single time. 

But to Raiden, Madotsuki always seemed pretty… wise? He wasn’t sure that was the right word, but she always seemed quite good at knowing how to respond to things (even on the times she chose to respond with pure chaos.) He figured that, maybe, she knew or at least had the correct instinct to handle loss. Or something, anything really, that he might not know. 

He just gestures vaguely with his hand, as he has no idea how to verbally elaborate his question. His eyes are so tired. 

Madotsuki, too, was no stranger to death. But also had to live with the guilty thought that she wouldn’t have needed to be so had she been just a little more careful. A little more responsible. Heavy thoughts that she couldn’t dare make mentions of due to her _vow_ of silence. 

They were both no strangers to death, yet neither was aware about that of the other, for different reasons. 

“Wish I knew.” Madotsuki admits, having more or less understood Raiden’s poorly-worded inquiry. “Everything would be a little easier.” She looks over at her friend, feeling a metaphorical fist squeezing her throat, wondering whether she should use the words she wanted to use, or if using them would be dangerously letting on more than intended. 

For once, she decides to take the risk. 

“… but the truth is that _you never really get used to death_.” 

The way she said it, was almost as if she had _experience_ within that field, Raiden thought. And he couldn’t help but keep looking at her, sort of astonished. 

Madotsuki just sighs, kind of able to read his expression; Yes, the words did let on a little more than intended. 

“… you lost a _sister,_ and I lost a _friend_ too.” 

Was… was she talking about Elizabeth or M████o? Impossible to tell. It could be either, or even both at once. 

For the context Raiden had, though, he could only take that as being Elizabeth. He and she were siblings, but Madotsuki and Elizabeth were very close friends too. 

Oh, of course! Of course Madotsuki would also be in pain over Elizabeth! How could he be so selfish to forget that and expect her to know how to handle such pain!? 

“I- I’m sorry.” The boy couldn’t help but to apologize, feeling like he was putting much unneeded pressure onto his friend. 

Madotsuki only exhales with a minimal shake of her head. “Don’t be. It’s only natural to want to know these things. To know how to cope, how to be able to say their name without feeling pain. I wish to know, too.” She’s been wishing to know for a _long_ while now. She still can’t speak M████o’s name out loud without hearing her own voice spelling it like a stab through her chest. And as it was sinking in, Elizabeth’s name was beginning to have that same effect. 

For the first time in a good while now, that near lifelong sensation of ‘something missing’ was returning to her. Even though it was a very familiar sensation, it still didn’t feel any comforting on having to welcome it back. 

“… I suppose you just… keep living one day at a time?” She tries giving Raiden something ‘productive’ to what he originally wanted, though even she wasn’t too sure of it. “The pain will be there no matter what we do, at the end of the day. So… I guess we just do what we can despite it. Also, like… do it for her.” 

For Elizabeth? 

“I mean, we were friends. We three. I think she’d want us two to keep being friends and continue making good memories together.” This is no wisdom, even if it sounds like it. Madotsuki is trying to figure it out herself as she speaks. 

“… I think I get what you mean.” Raiden answers softly, after a good while being silent. “But no new memories would be as happy without Elizabeth.” 

“No, they won’t.” Madotsuki doesn’t sugarcoat it. “They will be... _bittersweet,_ at best. And the old good memories feel a little sad now when we think about them… But I guess we should be glad they happened _at all_ and cherish them the best we can.” 

She pulls her body back, lying stomach down on her friend’s bed, head and arms hanging from the edge, and she reached under the bed and hanging sheets to pull out another of Raiden’s toys. A plushie that looked a lot like Fredbear, but colored brown hues, with a leathery black bowtie and tophat, with blue doll eyeballs, and even a tiny plastic microphone saw to one of its hands. Ah yes, _merch._ Raiden has resorted to hiding them from Michael’s immediate sight. 

Madotsuki sat the Freddy plushie down on the bed, and tenderly shifted Raiden’s Fredbear plush to sit down next to the other bear. “She may not be here anymore, but we both are. Still here. Still friends.” The two plushies, at the moment seemed to represent them both. 

Raiden ended up following the girl, lying on his bed the same way, feeling underneath until he pulled out a Bonnie doll. He kind of felt like she was onto something. Or maybe it was just him getting there. “… Remember when we used to play with those during our sleepovers?” God, he spoke it like they hadn’t done that in forever, which wasn’t the case, but given the events, the last time they did felt like such a distant memory now. 

“Heck yeah I do.” Madotsuki managed to pull the Chica doll out, a miniature Cupcake attached to her hand. “You always stuck with Fredbear the most, so Elizabeth and me usually alternated with two of them each time. Or we just put them all along with us to watch Fredbear & Friends when it came on TV.” Chica and Bonnie ended up joining the bears in the middle of the bed, as the girl reached underneath the hanging bedsheet again. “Where’s Foxy, though?” 

Raiden quiets down. “Oh, um…” He’s not sure how to explain that. 

“Come on I don’t feel it anywhere down ther—oh wait I think I got its hook!” 

Raiden winces, knowing the other would be in for a surprising sight. Foxy was put the furthest back for a reason. 

She pulls out the red plushie by its little round, plastic hook, only to meet with a poor, _headless_ doll, white fluffy stuffing poking out of the severed neck. “Oh Lords--!” Madotsuki exclaims in surprise. “Raiden, what **happened** to Foxy!?” 

The boy stutters, fumbling, but was clearly as upset by the sight as she was. Madotsuki however didn’t need an answer to know what happened. “Nah, no need to say it. Michael did it, didn’t he.” 

“I—He…” 

“It’s okay, no need to elaborate. I just need to know where’s the head.” She ‘needs’ to know? 

Her question only made Raiden frown further. “He… he hid it in his room but-- but if I go in there he will beat me up…” 

“… Well then, I’ll go in there.” 

“You’ll what??” Raiden could only stare at her with eyes almost the size of two plates. “N- no you can’t! If you do he’ll beat you too! He’s bigger than you as well…!” 

Madotsuki rolled her eyes, already getting off the bed while placing the beheaded Foxy plush along with the others. “Yeah yeah. But first: He’s not home right now. And second: If he comes back and catches me there, yeah he may have the height advantage over me… **but his kneecaps sure don’t.**” 

Oh man. All Raiden could do was hope that Michael didn’t come back early, so that there wouldn’t be a conflict between him and Madotsuki. For he knew there was no telling her out of this. 

Wait. 

“Wait, I—I think his room’s locked though?” Raiden isn’t sure if it was, but wouldn’t be surprised if it was. 

Madotsuki ain’t having that. “If I _want_ it to be open, _it will be open_.” That sounded borderline _ominous_, for some reason. “Make sure the body doesn’t lose any more stuffing. Foxy’s the pirate, not the plank.” With that she went to look for the missing fox head. 

Well, turns out the door to Michael’s room was indeed locked, but like she said: If she wanted it open, it _would_ be open. 

With a calligraphic pen from her pocket that she disassembled apart only until she got a specific piece, she legit picked the lock open with it. Whoa man's room. _Disgusting._ Michael should do his laundry more thoroughly. How is she going to find Foxy’s head in this teenager mess??? 

Hmm… Where in a room like this, would be a place one would think nobody will even consider about looking at?

Only a couple minutes passed, and Madotsuki walked back into Raiden’s room. “I found the captain.” She has a crooked grin, holding the missing Foxy doll’s head. 

Raiden looked at her, simply astonished. “How did you find him so fast???” 

“Nobody suspects the socks drawer.” She winks. “Usually.” 

“You… you didn’t _do_ anything to his stuff… _right_?” 

The girl pursed her lips. “It was VERY tempting. Maybe some itching powder into his socks. But _no_, I didn’t. At this rate, anything I’d do, he’d take it out on you.” 

Well, Michael would find any reason for anything whatsoever to take it out on him, but Raiden appreciated she trying not to add to that pile. 

“We have the head but… how are we going to fix Foxy?” Raiden looked between the plush head in Madotsuki’s hold and the beheaded body sitting on his bed among the other dolls of the crew. 

“Where do you keep threads and needles in this house?” Madotsuki didn’t skip a beat. How else were they supposed to fix Foxy? Duct tape? (The answer is no.) 

Raiden thought for a moment. His mother had one of those cookie boxes repurposed to keep sewing utensils. After she ‘vanished,’ it had been moved to Elizabeth’s room. He was certain it was still there; Elizabeth’s room had hardly been touched on since—yeah. It was in the same way it was left on that day. Even her pajamas that she had hastily changed for her outfit to attend the grand opening were still strewn over her bed. Her Funtime Foxy figurine still a mess of pieces on a corner on the floor from her and Raiden’s attempt to fix it after Michael broke it. He probably should ask Madotsuki to help him fix it, but perhaps some other time. 

“I know…” Raiden answers before deciding to go fetch the utensils himself; Madotsuki had recovered Foxy’s head, it was only fair he helped with _something_ himself, somehow. Even though part of him was mighty reluctant to enter Elizabeth’s room: It felt like he was violating a sanctuary of sorts. Desecrating a tomb. But his other side told him that Elizabeth would’ve wanted Foxy to be fixed too: That plushie along the other dolls were in the center of many of their good memories together. It didn’t take too long for him to find the box; He more or less remembered where Elizabeth tended to keep it. 

Though he sure as heck didn’t know the way of the thread and needle. Mrs. Afton likely would’ve taught him eventually if William hadn’t turned her into another of his machines. Elizabeth knew a little, but not enough to teach another. 

He could only assume Madotsuki knew, if she had asked for it. 

“… cookies?” She blinks when he comes back with the box. 

“Wha- oh, no. It’s just the box. See?” He removes the lid to show that no tasty treats were in there (how disappointing.) 

The girl lets out a bemused chuckle. “I thought _only_ my mom did that!” But she wastes no time, taking the box and sitting on his bed with it next to her as she began rummaging through the utensils. 

“What are you looking for?” Raiden asks, taking a seat on his bed as well. 

“The best thread.” She answers, picking and comparing rolls of threads, even lifting some to her eye. 

The boy tilted this head. “What do you consider the ‘best’ thread? They all look the same to me, aside from colors.” 

“Some are, but not all of them. I want a **sturdy** thread so that it doesn’t snap later. Also with the closest red _shade_ to Foxy’s fur so that the stitching doesn’t become too visible.” She filters down to some red and orange threads, comparing them among one another as well as to the Foxy doll’s body. It didn’t take too long for her to find a suitable material. She tried to calculate by eye how much thread she’d need and snapped with her teeth where she deemed more or less enough, then proceeded to start sewing the plushie’s head back onto its neck after slipping the thread through a needle.

It took Madotsuki around an entire hour to consider her work finished. She sewed around Foxy’s neck more than one time to make sure it was firm and sturdy and would last. Every once in a while, she’d _prickle_ her index on the needle much to her dismay, as there was no thimble in the box that she could equip herself with. But every time she did, she’d endure through it and swallow back any _‘Ouches!’_ that would’ve wanted to come; She knew Raiden would feel guilty if he’d seen her struck by pain from fixing his doll, even if it was something as small as the prickle of a needle. So for his sake she powered through them.

Once she deemed her work done, she did one long sew and snapped the remaining piece of thread off so that the tied up ends stayed inside the doll. “_Aaand_ there we go! Foxy’s as good as ever!” Her finger’s glad it’s over. 

She held out the now fixed Foxy doll, and Raiden had to really look. You could see the stitches but only if you looked pretty close up and even then it was pretty faint tanks to the similar color shades. 

“Wow! It’s almost like he had never been torn at all!” 

Madotsuki grins, holding the plush in front of her face but facing away from her. _“Yar har har! It be goin' ta take more than an angsty teen ta take down this pirate!”_ Her impersonation of Foxy the Pirate was… **terrible.** Her voice just wasn’t gruff enough to pull it convincingly. But that was what made it a delight to hear. 

Raiden couldn’t not laugh at it. And frankly, he _needed_ that. And for the next while, both kids wound up sucked into a play between them where Foxy had been injured by a sea monster in one of his sailings and Fredbear along with the Faz-trio had to go on a quest to find some hidden and locked away artifact that could help Foxy get better. Needless to say Foxy looked much better. 

And at least for that moment where nothing but their play and the memory of Elizabeth as if she was somehow playing along with them through that, mattered. This moment of happiness was small and simple, but it was one that would always be looked back fondly, even with all the cries of the recent events. 

It’s moments like this that would make it easier to learn to have Elizabeth’s memory something of **comfort** rather than only heartache.


End file.
